Pokemon Reset Bloodlines: Head Gym Leader Drake Interlude
by Crossoverpairinglover
Summary: My first Multi chapter Reset Bloodline Side Story. Drake of the Orange Islands, upon realizing that he needs to change his approach to continue on his undefeated streak, travels abroad to Kalos to find a new factor for his battles. However he finds more than he bargains for. Ability to enjoy without other Reset knowledge is probably a thing.
1. Chapter 1

The Long mentioned, the slightly built up, the Drake Interlude! Now in parts because I have lost my ability to write scenes in small parts!

(Help me...)

Occurring before Ash at Indigo, but after the current Chapters 30 and 31 of Reset.

Hopefully one can get a lot of this story even if one has never read Reset in the past.

Let's a go!

* * *

In his years as the top of the Orange League (and through many debates if 'Orange League Supreme Gym Leader' meant Champion, was equivalent to Champion, and ranting purists arguing one way or the other), Drake had fought many challengers.

Many local, some from Kanto or Johto. A few from even further afar.

They had never defeated him. No one had joined their hall of fame in his time, though a number did get close.

"Saur!"

Though it seemed like these days that was getting closer and closer to being changed.

His Venusaur, even two years ago, appearing in battle was a rarity, though it seemed that he had to call him out more often now. If nay sayers wanted to suggest that weakened his old friend, the Tyranitar currently being held by dozens of vines was a good testament to the fact that lack of use did not lax Venusaur's well honed strength and skills.

Said Tyranitar was flailing about, roaring in anger and trying to get an arm free or a foot back on the ground. Or at least be unmuzzled.

"No!" Tyranitar's trainer shouted in desperation.

"And this looks like the final move folks! Our Drake has our challenger's ace Pokemon wrapped up to go. Clearly Drake was setting up for this when he went into the second half at a handicap: Ditto, Onix, and Gengar clearly were weakening the remaining four Pokemon to be finished in a single display of power!"

No, no he wasn't. That wasn't what he was planning at all. Nothing of that was him setting up this sweep.

"End this!" Drake didn't let the truth show on his face, that this recovery was spontaneous.

"Venusaur!" His old friend agreed, with a ring of exhaustion that probably only he could pick up in his tone. Venusaur slammed Tyranitar against the ground, the ground shaking from the impact of so much raw beast.

Venusaur retracted his vines as the dust cleared, revealing the fate of Tyranitar.

"Tyranitar is unable to battle! The victory goes to the Supreme Gym Leader Drake!"

The crowd cheered him on.

His challenger returned Tyranitar with a frown, looking into the Pokemon's Ultra Ball with a look of personal disappointment.

"Sorry bud, I thought I had him figured out. I suppose I'll just have to pass it on." Drake barely overheard over the crowd roaring in delight over his victory.

Pass what on?

Drake moved to question his defeated opponent about what he meant, but Venusaur let out an exhausted groan and collapsed to the ground.

Priorities first. Venusaur needed to see Nurse Joy. Four battles in a row hurt anyone.

...

Drake had hoped to see his challenger in the Pokemon Center to question him, but there was no sign of him.

Perhaps he had dropped his Pokeballs off and was off in seclusion somewhere? Perhaps he had medicine on hand? Drake had no idea, but he would not be finding the answer to his question directly.

Perhaps indirectly would be better?

Soon after Nurse Joy rolled away his Pokeballs for a healing and check up (best not risk an electric flu pop on again), Drake made for a utility phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.

A red head greeted him.

"Drake. This is a surprise." Luana, the Kumquat Gym Leader greeted.

"Hope you don't mind, but I have a question for you." Drake decided to leave out the part that he could just as easily bother Rudy, Danny, or Cissy with the question, though he'd probably prefer her or Rudy's response.

They would be the better judges.

"Sure, though I am waiting on a weekly call. If it comes up, I will have to put you on hold." she told him bluntly.

Drake suspected what that call was about. He knew that her son had recently left on his own Pokemon Journey, going to Johto if he recalled. He had apparently been hyped up by witnessing a recent tournament in Fuchsia City, which Drake had to admit was pretty impressive.

It wasn't every day you saw a field be weaponized by a Pikachu, the same species as Travis's starter.

"Then I'll make it brief. Have you noticed the challengers to your gym being stronger recently?" He asked. It was probably best he look at the simplest explanation first, that being that he was facing tougher opponents.

Luana put a thoughtful finger to her chin as she thought.

"...Honestly, I can't say that's the case at all. They aren't bad, but I don't think we're seeing that surge of talent that a lot of regions are seeing recently. Maybe dealing with Cissy and Danny's unique challengers is stemming the tide of them, maybe we're just going to see a lot of them after this year's Indigo or Silver conferences, I honestly can't say."

Drake frowned at that comment. The challengers _weren't_ simply tougher than usual? Analysts in league statistics usually said that successful generations of talent in leagues often came in waves, with the leagues entering a resurgent period of talent and interest in the regional leagues after the last wave ended around the time of that Kalos league with the old woman winning.

Between then and about a year ago the newer blood wasn't all that interesting, with most of the interesting battles being in other levels of league, like the less frequent Gym Leader Tournaments and Champions League.

The former was straight forward, the latter was far less so.

"I see. Thank you." he logged off the call with the double battle specialist and found himself staring at the blank screen.

If it wasn't a change in strength, what was going on?

…..

The Palace of Victory, also called the Hall of Fame by the kids.

In all his time, Drake had never entered anyone into its hallowed halls. All the images came before him.

Walking into the hallowed halls, he passed by a pair of Dragonite Statues and came up to a similarly made statue of a man, posed forever in stone in garb that was a few centuries out of date.

The first Supreme Leader.

Past his statue were tablets with prints and inscriptions, occasionally with paintings or some such. Each marking someone who had defeated the first leader and ended up in the hall.

He continued to walk along the mementos, eventually finding himself as a second statue, this time of a woman.

The second Supreme Leader, beyond whom were more memorials to those who triumphed over her. The first being, oddly enough, a painting of a ship with its captain at the bow, flanked by a Gastly and a Haunter.

No print tablet. Though he supposed asking a Gastly to make a handprit or footprint was a tad difficult to do.

Drake continued on, passing more and more statues and memorials. The clothing grew progressively more modern, as did the art styles.

Though Drake did have to pause when someone had apparently requested their hall of league portrait to be done in a Cubist art style. That was worth a few minutes of staring in a 'what, why, you can't be serious' manner before continuing down historical lane.

Eventually he came up to his statue. His face was a bit less sharp then, a tad more youthful.

Nothing was beyond his statue, the last entry to the hall being a Kanto born trainer named Casey Snagem.

That photo, featuring a Clefairy and Magmortar, had stood as the last entry for years. It had taken the historical record for longest streak as such some time ago.

And yet, it seemed like something was making that streak see the signs of its end.

…..

Like all islands in the Orange Archipelago, tourists were common on Pummelo Island.

It wasn't the most popular of them by any means, but the beachfront businesses still got a handy dollar from tourists of all varieties.

While general consensus among 'experts' was that Alola was better for vacations overall, the lack of visitors from Fiore, Almia, and Oblivia that Alola had was considered by many reason enough to go to the Orange Islands and their less developed infrastructure and less interesting culture. Such facts/opinions aside, Drake walked the beachfront, his boots causing the boardwalk under him to crunch in a way that was pleasing to the ear as he gazed over the nearby beach idly.

The questions bugging him still buzzing in his head….

"And I'm telling you, Weirdo, that you don't have a clue! I'm going to beat Drake!"

The angry yelling caught his attention. It was related to what was getting at him after all.

A jump down onto the sand and some walking led Drake to the source of the argument.

"It isn't just the internet! Everyone's done work on it, and I've done my own thing. I don't actually have any Pokemon with rock-type moves, but I do have two with Dazzling Gleam!"

On one end, doing the yelling, there was a local. The fact said local was not dressed for the beach helped made that obvious, as only tourists came to the beach dressed up for the surf. Locals weren't huge on it. The good tan was another indication.

On the other end were two younger people, probably older teenagers. Long enough to do at least one league, if they made it.

The one he was yelling at had a red hat covering his head, and was wearing a pair of black shorts. They appeared to be only for relaxing, if the belt of Pokeballs still attached to them were any indication. He didn't have the best posture, and his eyes seemed to be lacking focus on the local, yet not out of disdain. More like, they were too busy looking at everything else, yet not looking at all.

The shorts were monogramed with the label BW on the side, a brand that Drake did not recognize.

The other was a teenage girl, with a massive head of brown hair contained in a large ponytail. She appeared to have in fact gotten in the water, given a sheen about her skin, white bikini, and sarong covering her swimsuit bottom, though the bag swung in her shoulder looked dry. Said sarong also had a BW monogrammed into it.

"It's quite simple really you act like that it is a simple solution of plugging in moves to win but really in the end it isn't just moves you also need strength and typing and attributes like speed and endurance and strength which during your rant you clearly were not in possession of."

Drake blinked in confusion as the teenage male spoke so fast he barely could understand it. Did the kid even breath during that entire sentence?

"What?!" The local growled at the kid, in both anger and confusion.

"As I was telling you you assumed that a single round of research and some training is enough to win when I won I did a lot of research for years of not only everything my opponent could do but also everything I could do to counter them and create the most effective team you would have to research Drake and everything about what Drake could do as well as what you could do to best handle him which you clearly have not as you are mostly winging it on the possibility of only one Pokemon giving you trouble which is a really foolish thing to do really."

Breathe kid breathe.

Was this kid…normal? Drake had heard tales of horrible freaks capable of controlling the minds of Pokemon and leveling cities who masqueraded as humans with noticeable differences. Was this kid one of those?

"Black…" The girl told him as one would remind someone to stop doing a bad habit. The kid, who Drake now knew was named Black, looked at her in confusion, before he, fairly automatically at the reminder, tapped his pokeball belt.

Said ball released some sort of purple and pink Pokemon. It sort of resembled a Drowzee, but it was leaking smoke out of its nose like one of those Hoenn fire types.

It floated over Black's head, and latched itself onto his head like a Shellder on a Slowpoke tail.

The kid promptly tensed, and his posture improved, as was his focus.

"I'm just saying," The kid spoke with a clearer, slower tone that made him a bit more understandable, and revealed a hint of a Unovan accent to his words, "That you don't have the correct strategy to win. You can't win without hard work and a half baked plan. Perhaps a fully baked plan, but you all are far from it."

Okay…..so he was wrong? Maybe….

This was kind of weird. Had the kid even noticed he was here? The girl certainly had, and the local hadn't…

And this plan they were talking about was what exactly?

"What the…." The local snapped at the change of focus as the girl shook her head.

"He needs a bit of help focusing, too much thinking even for his head to manage most of the time. Though when he's focused, he can achieve a lot. We never did introduce ourselves did we: he's Black Gaiman, winner of the last Unova conference at Vertress. I'm his supervisor for the BW agency, White."

"Champion!?" the local gasped in shock.

"Conference winner. The champion is Alder, I'm still planning how to defeat him, and one last member of the Elite Four beyond simple strength disparity. Marshall has a brand new Sawk capable of powering itself up with something called Bond…."

"If you're not a champion, then why should I listen to you?" Clearly the local did not know how leagues worked.

He could only blame the focus on his own conference, as well as his own lack of losses.

"Because unlike you, he beat eight gyms, then seven powerful trainers to win the league. All done without losses." White declared.

Drake knew as well as she did that not losing with the seven powerful trainers in the league was kind of a requirement, but the local didn't it seemed, and seemed to lose heart.

He backed away, first a step, then a second, then darting away in a rush. It was only then that League Winner Black seemed to notice he was there.

"Oh, you are the guy with the Dragonite. How long have you been here?" Black asked.

"Since before you had that…." Drake pointed at the pink thing on his head. Still slurping like its trainer was a soft drink.

"But never mind that. What brings a league winner to Pummelo? While you are more than qualified to fight me, you do have to qualify like everyone…."

"He's on vacation." White declared firmly, cutting off even the idea of him going on a badge quest before it could sprout. However under the firmness was a genuine concern.

"I trained too hard, and we just have to be more careful next month after we go home." Was all Black said in elaboration. White gave him a look that suggested it wasn't a simple case of passing out in exhaustion, but Drake did not press the issue.

If that wasn't the case, there were only two things to do now.

Either bid them goodbye and continue to figure out what was going on, or see if they knew. The latter was a long shot….but he had nothing to lose.

"You and that other guy were arguing about something, about me and Dragonite. What was it?" Drake questioned.

Given White didn't look ready to drag Black away, he might just get an answer. Black opened his mouth briefly, only for White to reach into her bag and pull out a tablet.

"Thanks." He told her as he began poking at it.

Drake watched the youth stare at the tablet his companion/boss/minder had given him, noting him swipe or prod at it at random intervals.

The entire time that pink Unovan Pokemon was nibbling on his head, and presumably also acting as a sun hat.

He stopped and handed the tablet back to his boss without a word.

"I just needed to check something for sure, but what is going on is actually pretty obvious. I'm surprised you haven't picked it up yet." Black said in complete honestly and without any malice. In the corner of his eyes he noted White wince in agony at the comment.

The twitch suggested this was not uncommon.

"Well then, Mr. Unovan League Winner, if it is as obvious as you say it is, tell me about it." Drake had a bit of an edge in his voice as the most recent winner of the Vertress Conference stared back at him seriously.

"Golem beat itself with Earthquake as well as Electabuzz while still having Stone Edge, Vileplume had Dazzling Gleam and Giga Drain, Tyranitar had Stone Edge and Dark Pulse, Jynx had Psychock and Ice Beam, Golbat had Toxic and several attacks meant to stall, a tactic that Shuckle can imitate."

"And that means..." Drake wasn't following.

"The previous challenger who had been vacationing from Hoenn brought with her a Absol with Megahorn and Stone Edge, a Medicham with Ice Punch, a Kirlia with Psychic and Dazzling Gleam to her, a Frostlass with Blizzard, a Vibrava with Dragonbreath and Earth Power, and a Aggron with Rock Slide."

"Still not..."

"The one before that had the same basic planning, and the one before that and the one before that. This pattern repeats itself going back quite a while, each time slowly slinking forward."

"What pattern!?" Drake demanded an answer to what was going on as the Unovan gave him a simple look.

"Your battle style has been cracked." Black declared simply.

"People are building their teams around the idea of all being able to fight Dragonite with the idea that they can, and often do, handle the rest of your team and aim to defeat Dragonite with a gauntlet strategy. I can think of about twelve equally efficient team assortments to do so, and about twenty others that have an acceptable success rate off the top of my head right now. Some, like your previous challenger, underestimate the rest of your Pokemon and are defeated before they can fight Dragonite, but their failure is noted by others and taken into consideration. Every loss only increases what people have to work with, facts and strategies enough to occupy entire internet forums devoted solely to perfecting how to defeat you. Some of them are even well funded and maintained. If this keeps up, you will lose. It may be tomorrow, or next week, or in a year, but it will happen. And it will be because your methodology and tactics are entirely figured out." Black elaborated as White took out the tablet and held up what Black had been looking up.

Staring back at him, lit up electronically straight from the internet, was a website that had his picture on it.

As well as that of all his Pokemon, with Dragonite highlighted via a click with data next to it.

More data than Drake had seen in some textbooks. And atop the data itself, and his picture, was a banner with a simple statement.

 **Ever evolving plans to defeat Drake: every loss makes this data more and more accurate. Use the data to finally defeat Drake.**

 **...**

The caretaker of the Palace of Victory found him sitting in the center of the palace, staring at the line of victors.

"…So, you found the website." The question wasn't spoken as such.

"….." Drake didn't respond, still staring silently.

"I must admit, I did find it rather unsettling, but I'm pretty sure you can find websites like that about Alder and Cynthia and the rest. Heck given it is the internet, you are probably spared from name calling those two invite." The caretaker's words were heard, but Drake didn't respond to them.

He said something else entirely.

"…..What do I do?" Drake asked vaguely, not really aimed at the caretaker specifically.

"Well, lose I suppose. Unlike Alder and Cynthia, you won't lose your job for it." The Caretaker said simply as Drake shook his head.

"I can't."

"…Do I need to remind you that you are not in fact a Champion of the 'lose once and you have to go away' variety, again?" The caretaker reminded him gently.

Drake stood up, turning to the caretaker and grasping Dragonite's Pokeball.

"When Dragonite and I first began working together, I promised him that we'd rise to the top and never be defeated. I have never lost a battle, and thus I have kept my promise. I don't want to break it."

"You could simply retire. Drake, the Head Gym Leader of the Orange Islands, announces his retirement. He retires undefeated, as the process of selecting a new Head Gym Leader begins." The caretaker offered as Drake frowned.

That….was the most logical way to keep his promise. Rather than waiting for someone to use that website and get lucky, he retires on top.

His promise is kept, and the internet can go find someone else to plot against.

Yet…..the idea of just doing that, of taking the logical way out and retiring…..it didn't sit well with him. Why was that?

Did he not want to run away from his problem?

Did he feel like that would betray his promise in spirit, even if not in words?

Did he just have no idea what he'd even do with himself if he retired? It wasn't like he could just move to Agate Village: he wasn't at the age where he didn't need entertainment beyond prune juice!

"Of course, that is the logical way to avoid your fear, and the only way that is foolproof. Perhaps you will do something else." The caretaker mused as he stepped towards the first victor portrait before turning back around to face him.

"I see two ways you can move forward Drake. One is that you need to train more Pokemon than the six you currently use. With a mixed team, it is harder to plan against."

"You are aware of how long that would take, assuming I can simply work on it day in and day out like a young trainer." Drake noted as the caretaker nodded.

"Yes, that is the problem with the plan. Your training would be interrupted by challengers, and you'd have to find a way to surpass your struggles before they surpass you. Doable yes, and rather rewarding if you can achieve it, but stressful and an ongoing plan."

"You suggested a second option." Drake recalled as the caretaker nodded.

"Yes I did. The other option is that you can simply find a way to give yourself more power, even with the plateau someone like you reaches."

A fact about elite trainers was that at some point the amount of time it took for a Pokemon to be strengthened further became a lot more arduous for a lot little reward. They could get stronger, but it was a far slower process.

The caretaker held up his phone, which was currently on an airline's page, specifically for flights to a city.

A city that was far away from the Orange Islands.

"Shalour City?" Drake read the name of the city in confusion. He had never heard of it.

"Yes. Shalour City is a Kalosian City, famous for its wonderful beaches. It also is home to a man named Gurkinn, who I believe will be able to help you with increasing the power you have access to. He lives in a tower on the coast of the city, which also functions as a Pokemon Gym for the Kalos League."

"Gurkinn?" Drake questioned as the caretaker nodded.

"While a random person going up to him asking for help is likely a fruitless endeavor, as a Head Gym Leader you should have more luck than most. If not, his specialty is not so exclusive only he can aide you."

"And his specialty is what, doing one hundred sit ups and a hundred squats?" Drake questioned as the caretaker smiled his way.

"I'd tell you, but I feel as if knowing what he can do for you and asking about it will make it less likely he'll help you. So, if you are willing to cash in some of your accumulated vacation days, I'll lend you my air miles. You'll have to pay to get back though, that's on you."

Drake stared at the man for a moment, before smiling.

"Well, I certainly can afford to. So vacation days huh…..think I can extend it if I tell them it's a training trip?"

"You'd think you could, but going to a place of beautiful beaches and women doesn't really say 'training trip' the same way ice mountains do." The caretaker pointed out.

Good point. That sounded more like he was going to find one of Kalos's infamous nude beaches.

 _On an airplane, days later_

The ocean was interesting to watch, for the first hour.

After that point, it got tedious, as were the clouds.

The economy sized seat became an irritant in half the time.

'When I fly home, I'm buying my own ticket'. Drake decided. He was not taking economy again.

He was a Head Gym Leader who was paid more than he frankly needed. He didn't give nearly enough of it to charity, he might as well spend it on a seat with actual space and effort put into it.

"All I'm saying is that you get what you pay for. What you don't pay in taxes you pay in hospital bills and toll roads."

Or the ongoing political discussion occurring in the row in front of him.

Unlike most everyone else on this contraption, he wasn't able to fall asleep. Part of that blame could go to the two in front of him who had been arguing politics for the last three hours.

"You say that as if everyone pays for what they use. Why should my tax dollars go into funding ferries I'll never use."

"Because the people paying for the ferry are paying for the mountain tunnels you use, that they'll never see just as much as you are paying for the ferry."

Would he get arrested if he let Dragonite out to glare at them? Was that allowed on planes? Just having a Pokemon glare at someone to make them shut up, without firing any attacks off?

After some thinking Drake decided that yes, it would probably get him detained, and thus it wasn't worth it.

Though after another hour he was starting to consider it again.

"Don't you see that the world is moving too fast? Nothing has time to sit anymore, it's always some new crusade." The conservative arguer declared.

"You'd want the world to stop moving all together. Things are moving because we live in a new age of progress. The world has gotten better, and people want to keep working to make it even better."

Shouldn't the flight parching have rendered them silent yet? Did the stewardesses keep giving them water? Could they possibly stop doing that so they'd stop arguing?"

"And in trying to achieve something that impossible, what have we lost? Plus, what is even perfection? Everyone wants to make what they think is a perfect world they don't ask themselves if it's perfect for people who aren't themselves. You liberals are so preoccupied with whether or not they could change something that they didn't stop to think if they _should."_

He was going to find a hotel the first thing he did in Kalos. Find a hotel, and sleep off this flight.

Brahhhh!

"You didn't even use the reference right, Ian Malcom is far from a conservative character." Noted the liberal arguer as the torture continued.

….

Kalos hotels had nice beds. Good for forgetting torturous, sleepless flights filled with people whose arguments defied the human need for hydration.

Done with his little trip through the depths of madness and pain, Drake took a long look at the city he was pointed to to improve itself.

It was a city hewn from more hill than he was used to seeing in the Orange Islands, the streets rising and falling randomly, almost like a roller coaster at a theme park.

The people treated it as normal, but Drake couldn't help but look at it in interest.

Was this what tourists felt when they came to the Orange Islands?

Waves washed against the shore of the city, upon which a tower of stone was hewn. It looked older than even the Orange League palace of victory, which Drake has always seen as the oldest thing he knew.

Compared to the tower he could see in the distance though, it looked like a rookie trainer standing against one of the old champions.

Like Alder, but staying in one place. And more shaven.

It was where he needed to go, and thus the place he'd be going now.

….

Drake noted something about the people of Kalos as he walked through the town.

They were really open about having their Pokemon out with them.

Standing beside them, walking with them, helping carry parcels and packages as they left mail places and stores….it was something that stood out as he looked around.

He recognized some of them: he saw Mr. Mime and Slowpoke, Oddish and Heracross. Though he also saw ones he wasn't familiar with.

Some sort of white and blue Pokemon with cheeks like a Pikachu, a purple cat with large eyes that seemed to follow him as he walked past it, a blue fuzz ball with wings and a heart shaped nose.

He stopped in the middle of the street and took the ball around his neck in his hand, and activated it.

In a pop Dragonite was out in front of him, looking confused as to why he was out.

"It seems to be a thing here to have Pokemon out with you. What do you say Dragonite, do as the Kalosians do?"

Dragonite looked around for a moment before nodding, and so the two continued to walk through the town together.

Drake noted a slight change in the air as he did so, a subtle change in how the people looked at him. It seemed a bit more…..something.

Happy? Accepting? Approving?

Whatever it was, it felt positive.

After a few blocks were walked Drake's eyes were drawn to the edge of the road, where an open park resided.

In which, a battle was wrapping up.

"Eevee!" A black haired trainer in a similarly dark vest gave the command as a white blur crashed into another Dragonite.

His own Dragonite stopped and gave a whine of sympathy at the other Dragonite suffered, and Drake had to agree. That was not a pleasant blow.

The Dragonite toppled over in defeat as the white blur came to a stop at the legs of the dark vested trainer, revealing a pale colored Eevee, white as a ghost.

The Dragonite's trainer stared at his opponent in disbelief as Drake couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

That Eevee didn't look touched, yet the Dragonite itself did not look half bad either. It wasn't anything compared to his Dragonite, the only Dragonite that could possibly match his belonged to Lance. However it was hardly what one could call weak or under trained.

That Eevee had utterly manhandled it.

"So Dragonite, do you think that this Gurkinn fellow is something like that and whatever he did to that Eevee he can do for us, or is that just what a Kalosian trainer is like and the guy has something else up his sleeve?" Drake wondered aloud.

"Wooo!" Dragonite responded in a tone that suggested uncertainty.

….

With a mighty push, Drake pushed open the door.

It creaked open, even as Dragonite moved to help him with it, but stopped as it was not needed.

The door slowly open, revealing a receiving foyer with spiraling staircases going both up and down into the tower.

Drake looked at the descending staircase for a moment, unsure of how that even worked.

This was built on a sandbar, wasn't it? How could it have a basement? Or did he miss something, like a more solid earthen bank.

"Woo." Dragonite pointed to the center of the tower, and Drake followed his partner's gesture.

He followed the finger upwards as he noted that it wasn't just a round block of bricks.

It had a massive statue on top, larger than anything in the Orange Islands.

It was of a Pokemon, though one that Drake hadn't seen before. It looked like some sort of fighting type.

The tower shook as Dragonite gave him a knowing look.

A battle was going on below.

Following the sound of battle would likely help him find the man called Gurkinn.

Down the staircase they darted, and indeed down below they found some people, one of whom was possibly Gurkinn.

They also found a gym battle in progress.

"Flamethrower!" Two voices shouted at once.

A two on one gym battle, it would seem.

Drake found himself on a balcony overlooking the field, hewn from some sort of stone as the torch lit field was alit with two fire attacks.

One came from a Houndoom, a Pokemon Drake had seen before.

The other came from a Pokemon he had not seen before that resembled a chandelier.

The two fire attacks flew towards a pair of Pokemon commanded by a single, thin older man with three long bangs of white hair atop his bald head (or were two of those bangs massive eyebrows, Drake wasn't sure).

One of the Pokemon Drake knew: a Machamp. Said Machamp darted in front of the other Pokemon before using Protect, taking the flamethrower head on with little damage.

Behind the Machamp was a Pokemon that greatly resembled the statue he had seen coming in: a blue and black Pokemon with a thin build. However, details about it were off.

The old man humphed as the flames died down before giving a long look at his two opponents.

"In these days before the League, you waste your time as much as mine! Do you think that you can prove yourselves like this?!"

"What more do you want to see? We've both trained hard, and our Pokemon trust us. Gallade and I did not take out that Hawlucha of yours because Gallade doesn't trust me and knows what I mean a hundred percent!" A pale trainer of about sixteen with pink eyes and baggy clothes questioned in a Johto accent.

The old man shook his head as the other trainer, probably the one with the unknown Pokemon that looked like a fancy lamp, had something to say in a lot more annoyed tone.

Helped by his Unovan urban accent.

"Look old man, we've been here long enough to know what goes into Mega Evolution, and we think we're good enough to do it. If we aren't, could you just come out and say what gives?" the dark skinned youth in dreadlocks declared.

Mega what?

"I have no time for this." The old man declared as the Pokemon behind Machamp darted forward, and Drake noticed for the first time that it had a faded green metal holder on its right arm. Affixed to it was some sort of stone.

"If you refuse to see what you lack, allow me to demonstrate."

"Can you just say it like a normal person!?" The Unovan demanded as the old man held out a glove with a round stone afixed in the center.

He pressed it, as two streams of light shot from it and shot into the Pokemon's holder.

Said Pokemon, promptly began to evolve in an orange color.

Drake and Dragonite stared in shared shock as the Pokemon became the exact same one as depicted in the tower statue, as a wave of pure power burst from it like a gust.

Dragonite shoved him out of the direct wave of impact and took it for himself, an act shared by the two Fire-shooting Pokemon with a bit less shoving.

Both their trainers only felt a fraction of the force, though both were looking at whatever had just happened in some terror.

"This is as close to Mega Evolution as you both will get: Bone Rush!" The old man who was probably Gurkinn declared as the Pokemon knocked its fists together, before pulling them apart again.

In each hand the Pokemon now had a pair of energy bones that hummed blue.

Dragonite gave off a hiss. Drake recognized it as a 'that is powerful' hiss.

"Heat Wave!" The dreadlocked trainer called as the light fixture Pokemon hopped in front of Houndoom and began unleashing a red wave of solid heat.

The Mega Evolved Pokemon avoided it by jumping over it.

All the way to the ceiling, before using the ceiling to fly at the two fire types as if nothing had just happened. Meanwhile Machamp used Protect to avoid the Heat Wave.

"...Try Dark Pulse!" The Houndoom trainer shouted as Houndoom spat out a wall of spiraling darkness.

The Bone Rush sliced through it like it was paper, before slamming both Fire Types with Bone Rush.

Both were sent flying into a wall, as their trainers ran after them in urgent concern.

The old man shook his head as the Pokemon glowed again, and it turned back into what it was before that mega evolution thing happened.

"You up there, wait a moment and I'll be with you shortly." The old man called up his way.

….

The man sat them down for tea, all four of them.

The man and his Pokemon sipped their cups with well-worn ease, while Drake held his own cup oddly. He was not a drinker of tea.

Though he was doing better than Dragonite, who took a few minutes to realize he was even being offered tea before trying to figure out how to drink it.

Thankfully the cup seemed to be made of something less breakable, and was large enough that it wasn't as silly a spectacle as Dragonite sipping on a human sized cup would be.

"I must admit, tea is a rare preference in Pokemon. My Lucario is one of the few who drinks it with me willingly, though I find it is polite to offer it to all present parties. But that is besides the point, what brings the Head Gym Leader of the Orange Crew to the Tower of Mastery and the Mega Evolution Guru Gurkinn."

"You know my name?" Drake was surprised. The Orange Crew were not exactly super famous.

"I watch television, same as everyone else," the man simply said.

With that simple explanation given, Drake gave Gurkinn a breath, before he began to explain.

He told Gurkinn about what he had been noticing with his wins recently, the discovering of the documentation of his weaknesses and the building up of a blueprint for beating him. He explained the reason he came here, why he had come to him specifically, and that he had not known what it was that he had to offer before arriving.

Drake figured that would probably be worth putting on the table now.

"I see…..tell me, why can't you simply retire if an untarnished record is what you seek?" Gurkinn questioned though there was an odd tone to his voice that Drake couldn't quite discern.

Dragonite didn't pick up on it, though that was most likely because Dragonite was still struggling with grasping tea drinking protocol.

"When Dragonite and I first began our time together as partners, I promised him that we'd make it to the top and never lose. I made that promise twenty years ago, and I haven't broken it. I want to make sure that it stays that way."

"You make dangerous vows," Gurkinn observed. "To think you'd travel this far from your home, simply under the impression that I could help you. Or that I even would."

Dragonite dropped the cup at Gurkin's declaration, glaring at the man with a low growl. Lucario put its cup down before glaring back at Dragonite evenly.

Drake would approach this a tad less angrily.

"Oh, and why can't you help me?" Drake questioned as Gurkinn took a slow sip of tea.

He answered after putting his cup down.

"First off if you came for a Mega Dragonite, you came for nothing. Mega Evolution is not known to be possible among the Dragonite. New Mega Stones aren't impossible to find, the fact that Aerodactyl can mega evolve was discovered within my own lifetime for example, but I would not hold your breath for it unless some other region happens to be holding something close to their chest. Though I am well aware that you have more than just Dragonite."

"And the reason you won't help me work with them is….." Drake pressed as the old man looked at him evenly.

"A multitude of reasons. First off there are honestly too many people using Mega Evolution right now in my opinion. Mega Evolution is supposed to be a rare art only a few are worthy of, but keystones and mega stones have been getting everywhere. Some pudgy man in Kanto gave them out as entry rewards for pete's sake."

"Would you rather it only be those you deem worthy, whatever it is you are looking for?" Drake questioned the man, who nodded.

"In an ideal world, yes. However I am aware that is a pipe dream and a nightmare to try and make happen. Of course, the second reason is that if I was interested in training you, you would need to stay here with me until you can properly utilize Mega Evolution, and I doubt a Head Gym Leader has years to spare."

"Years?" Drake asked incredulously.

"Unless you want to do it wrong. If one does Mega Evolution wrong, the process causes problems for the Pokemon. Houndoom tails and claws melt, Absol become dangerous towards weak people without strong will, and everything from Lucario to Salamence become uncontrollable aggressors. The last thing I want are people running around without having a clear understanding of what they need to do to not have such unspeakable things occur."

What?

Drake's expression was noted by Gurkinn, who took another tea sip.

"Finally, I don't know you. I don't know if you are tainted with evil."

"Tainted with….." Drake asked incredulously.

"Evil. I have seen far too many people use Mega Evolution for foul purposes in my time. I was alive when a malcontent wrecked your end of the woods with a Gyarados."

Was he talking about twenty Gyarados…..that wasn't even in 'his neck of the woods'. Johto's western coast and the Orange Islands were hardly that close to each other!

Pummelo was one of the more northern islands, and it was still pretty far away!

"Of course I am not saying evil is something that is not found here. In my day I was trained with a young man whose heart was wicked. Tarasque was his name, and in his hands Mega Evolution was used for wicked purposes."

"And that disqualifies me why? I'm hardly in a place to use a Mega Ditto to commit tax fraud." Drake questioned the old man, who rolled her eyes.

"First of all, 'I've never heard of a Mega Evolution of Ditto. As to your question, it was obvious that Tarasque was going to be a problem. His father was imprisoned when he came here, and stayed there until he died."

Drake stared at the man for a moment, wondering if he was being serious.

The following tea sip was in fact quite serious, and so Drake exploded.

"You cannot be serious. Just because someone's in jail doesn't make them evil, nor that the people they're related to are guilty!"

"I can assure you Tarasque's father was there for good reason. The investigation left no doubt and was done by impeccable prosecutors and police officers with untarnished records. The perfection of the investigation is still taught today to avoid errors and biases in…."

"That is not what I meant!" Drake was not arguing about false imprisonment and police incompetence.

"Just because one of your parents is a criminal doesn't mean you are automatically one. My mother was a tailor, yet I can't knit anything without stabbing my hand, but under your logic I should know how to make three piece suits."

"Hardly my logic. That's a learned skill you would likely only start with the fingers of a clothes worker. Evil is inherited, and I have no idea if you are spared from it, I'd have to trace your lineage only a mere three generations back to be sure." Gurkinn said simply.

"So what, because I _might_ have a thief in my family tree, you won't help me?" Drake questioned as Gurkinn shook his head.

"What do you think I'd be doing in the years long training span, it would be the second thing I check. I'd need to see if you are worthy of Mega Evolution first, then I'd need to make sure you aren't tainted. But of course the time restriction you are undoubtedly under…."

"I take simply explaining how not to mega evolve 'wrong' and a crash course aren't an option, even if you spend half of it seeing what my grandfather did for a living?" Drake questioned in an even tone.

"That is correct." Gurkinn nodded.

"Well then, I guess I've wasted enough time here." Drake stood up, as Gurkinn took another sip of tea.

"Hardly. You learned what you sought and had a cup of Kalosian tea without having to pay for it. The taxes may pay for my dental work, but I'll admit they can be annoying to deal with. Plus it was nice to talk to someone again."

Drake stared at the man for a moment, even as Dragonite moved to get the door for him.

"If this is how you talk to people, I can completely understand why you're alone." And with that remark Drake left, followed by Dragonite.

Drake pretended not to notice Dragonite flipping off Gurkinn as they left.

* * *

Reset Interludes can be multi part, and this one is the first one I am doing that way.

Mostly because I have about this chapter's length after this with more to do after it, and adding in more would get a tad clunky as a single chapter. Anyway while we wait on the currently betaing Reset Chapter 31, a few chapter factoids.

Black is not a Bloodliner. He's just…Black. Based on Adventures Black specifically, though far from an exact replica. He and White for example have not met N, and I am not sure if he has any history with Reset! Cheren and Bianca. He did end up in the semi employ/dept repayment to the BW agency however, and he does have the Resetverse versions of Brav, Musha, Bo, Tula, and Costa among his roster.

Nor was the guy with the Eevee a Bloodliner. That is the main character of the Resetverse cover artist VinylShadow's (I call him Vinyl) story Walking with Gods. I asked for a few OCS for this and he was offered up. His name is Ezra. He probably isn't a crew member of a ship called the Ghost, and what he gets up to in his own story is not in effect in Reset.

The characters fighting Gurkinn were OC's from Imperial Maximajoran, Terry and Jovantry. They are also fully human.

White is not the same character in the Resetverse as Hilda.

In the Resetverse the Gen 7 Mega evolution entries can be true, but it isn't too difficult to avoid them if you know what you are doing. The bits about melting insides could be trouble if you don't know what you are doing for a while, but a lot of people are capable of figuring it out before that becomes a serious problem.

And next time: The smartest Team Flare Grunts in possibly all of Fanfiction, Holiday Special Characters, and Pomace Mountain.


	2. Chapter 2

Now part 2 of...how ever many parts I have of this. I honestly am not sure.

While I figure that out, let's get chapter two going!

...maybe by the end I'll actually have a name tag for Orange League Drake (the Drake we have a tag for right now is the Hoenn Elite Four member Drake). I sent in a request for it a while ago...anyone want to pitch in and maybe make something happen?

As to the art: Vinyl is the one who handles that, and he has not created a Drake cover. He makes them when he wants to and does not work for the Reset crew directly. I can't make him make something:

With that little lesson on Reset work lore, now let's really get the chapter going!

* * *

 _Shalour City_

"The old man is certainly unpleasant, isn't he?"

It was rare for a Nurse Joy to sound annoyed at something, but Drake happened to hear the rare sound as he lounged around in a Pokemon Center while Dragonite was in back getting something for his stomach.

(The tea was starting to disagree with him)

Also rare was the fact this Nurse Joy was old looking, with graying pink hair and a wizened face that looked old enough to have been young when Gurkinn had been so. Was that normal in Kalos?

"My granddaughter is out on a date with a nice Jenny today, if you're wondering why an old crone is up here." The Joy snarked as he blinked and shook his head.

He'd have never used the term 'crone'.

"The man's had a stick up his ass about Mega Evolution for years," The old woman caught him off guard with the use of a dirty word, which seemed to amuse her when she noted his surprise, "ever since Tarasque."

"And what did he do exactly, shoplift some tea?"

"He teamed up with a foreign criminal named Heratia and together the two killed an old billionaire who lived in town. He funded so many things, from getting the Shalour Sewer System built on his own money to the local park system, and the two brutally killed him and stole all his stuff before breaking into the bank he kept his money, taking all the money there and sending the city into a five year depression and budget crisis." The Joy deadpanned as Drake had nothing to say in response.

"Gurkinn takes things too far over it, but his complex doesn't come from nothing. Why do you think he's the only one keeping the Tower of Mastery up?"

There were….many ways to take that. Dead parents, dead siblings, dead siblings and parents….

"He mentioned he had someone….." Drake began asking as the old woman nodded.

"Korrina, his granddaughter." The old man reproduced?

"She was a ball of energy, that one. Always skating around, brightening up everyone with her smile. She was set up to take over the Shalour Gym when she turned twenty, and was Gurkinn's best student."

"So, where is this bundle of energy, and is she as much a hardass about mega evolution as he is?"

"Why do you think she'd not here anymore?" The old Joy quipped as she pulled a map out from behind the counter.

"I hate holomaps, so you'll have to use paper for this one. It's outdated, but seeing as mountains don't change you'd be able to find her easily unlike some street address. Even if you don't, there's a master equal to Gurkinn who lives there."

He noted the point she was pointing too: Pomace Mountain. It was a bit of a trip, but Dragonite was not against flying him places.

Just against battling after he did that, at least until a good rest.

"I'd leave tomorrow, there are some strong gusts over there at the moment. Until then, seeing as I'm not busy right now do you have anything more you want to know?"

"How much of what he said was true? Specifically, the part about melting tails and uncontrollable rage?" Drake wanted to get some clarification on that first.

The old Joy was silent for a moment.

"Mega evolution does not last after a battle ends, and thus I have never had anyone come in about a melted tail. I do not claim to be an expert on what a mega evolution in practice is or isn't like. However what I do know is that it is not a problem to those who have mastered it. What happens in between, I suspect Korrina can tell you better than I can."

 _The Hills of Kalos_

The Orange Islands did not have many hills.

They had slopes and peaks, but the idea of rolling hills was something that Drake had never had context for.

Flying with Dragonite through the air, he found himself mesmerized by the endless series of green hills, mixed with mountains that felt different from the ones in the Orange Islands.

Was it the fact they weren't volcanic?

"This is a bit different than the old days, isn't it?" Drake asked Dragonite, who grunted in agreement.

When they traveled more, it was as a recently started trainer and starter Pokemon across the expanse of the Orange Islands. While they had once taken boats, it was Dragonite's time as a Dragonair that had really let them see their home in great detail.

Taking a boat took you in a single direction, while riding with your partner had you appreciate distance a lot better. The majesty of the warm waters, both in beauty and in peril, as well as the marvel of finding islands off the beaten path that a boat would not take you too.

It also cost less than paying for your transport.

"I don't think I've ever seen so much green. You'd think the warm islands would be greener than this place….Is it something else? The soil maybe…."

Dragonite let out an unconcerned grunt. Clearly Dragonite was not curious as to the soil compositional differences between continents and island chains.

Come to think of it, Drake wasn't too interested in it either, as it would probably just be over-science talk saying 'soil on continent is better than soil on island'.

A low growl, mourning in tone, rang out from below. Dragonite shuddered in a startled reaction to it as Drake pointed down.

"Let's check it out. If it's something small, I'd feel better fixing it now than wondering what it was later." At the command Dragonite swooped down to the forest below, fluttering to a stop on a grassy hilly.

Drake hopped off his partner's back as Dragonite stretched, clearly feeling the pressure of carrying him for a good while.

Drake let his partner regain feeling as he climbed up a nearby hill, wondering if he could figure out where the sound was coming from.

His wondering last for about five seconds before another, much closer wail clued his eyes onto the origin of the sound.

At the bottom of the hill, curled up in a miserable heap, was a Pokemon.

It was mostly blue, with a pair of large red wings furled up against itself. It looked like Dragonite in form and function (i.e, Dragon and Flying), but horizontal where Dragonite was vertical.

It radiated misery.

Drake discretely tapped his belt, releasing Gengar, who floated behind him as Drake turned and whispered an order.

"If it looks like that Pokemon is going to get aggressive, back me up."

Gengar nodded in agreement as Drake descended down the hill, with Gengar floating behind him.

He slid down in front of the depressed dragon, who looked up at him for only a moment before lowering its head in apathy.

"Is something wrong with your wing?" Drake asked the Pokemon. Without response from the great Pokemon Drake looked over the two red wings for any clue.

He didn't see anything that looked wrong, and he had seen his fair share of injuries to wings in his time.

Slowly he approached the slacking head of the dragon, and reached for said head.

It didn't react as he opened the mouth and looked at the teeth.

"No broken teeth either…." He closed the mouth, which hung limply as he moved to lift the front left limb.

No splinter or some other irritant either.

Drake held the back of his hand on the Pokemon's neck, wondering if like on Dragonite it would tell him if the Pokemon was feeling bad.

The Pokemon didn't feel too hot. Then again, he wasn't sure how warm this species was supposed to be normally, so he might missing something.

Dragonite landed behind him, his breath caught as Gengar gave him a look from the corner of his eye.

Gengar promptly floated over to a nearby tree and began eating at an apple now that guard duty was officially Dragonite's.

Dragonite let out a concerned whimper at the sight of the dragon before tapping at his stomach.

Drake got the message and poked his head under the dragon.

The dragon's ribs were showing.

"That does it." Drake declared as he reached for his bag and pulled a stray Pokeball.

The caretaker had given him several before he left: it was his idea that perhaps his intel would be wrong and he could simply see Pokemon he might want to catch to throw the internet off instead.

Or that he'd find something cute and want to take it home with him as a pet.

The idea that he'd find a Pokemon that had something wrong with it that he'd need to take to someone with medical knowledge wasn't what was given as a possible reason, but he'd make use of it.

He pushed the ball forward towards the Pokemon's head, only for it to shield away from it.

He tried for the shoulder, only for the Pokemon to deliberately spread out and collapse to the ground.

He tried for the wing, only for the Pokemon to shrug away.

"…..I'm only doing this so I can take you to a Nurse Joy or someone capable of healing on Pomace Mountain, if they have someone like that. I am not going to just leave you to die, and I can let you go if you really want to come back here." Drake told the dragon, who shook its head and let out a self-hating growl.

Drake stared at that dragon in shock for such a move.

"Are…..are you suicidal?" Pokemon could be like that? He always assumed that suicidal thoughts were a human thing, Pokemon were capable of feeling that way?

Then again, he had never asked. He had never tracked down Professor Ivy to ask her if Pokemon could feel suicidal. There was no context that such a question would normally need to be asked.

Dragonite stepped forward and gave him a nod. Drake nodded back as Dragonite stepped closer to the other Pokemon, and held up its head.

The growl of 'let me go' was silenced as it was sucked into the Pokeball for statis and later medical treatment.

Drake stared at the ball as it locked, Gengar floating back to them with a serious look for a change.

"…..Well, that was the least pleasant capture I've ever had to do." Drake darkly noted as he slipped the Pokeball into his bag.

"Pomace Mountain is closer than Shalour City: if they don't have a healer would you be up to flying the ball to Nurse Joy? I'd write a note for you so she knows what is going on." Drake asked Dragonite.

Dragonite nodded affirmative, and with a returning of Gengar the trip to Pomace Mountain continued.

….

The elevation was climbing as the mountain grew closer.

Drake kept his eyes on the prize, as well as an eye on Dragonite.

It was unlikely that Dragonite would have issues carrying him, but at the first sign of one he'd get his partner to land.

It would take a lot more work to walk, but there were more important things than time saved and energy spared.

A flash of orange down below caught his eye up ahead: as did the distant murmur of human voices. Barely audible over the wind, but still present.

People?

"Dragonite, land up ahead if you can. Sounds like people are ahead, and it probably will be more polite if I walk up to them instead of having the two of us land in front of them." Drake told his first Pokemon, who whooed in agreement as he began descending.

The descent was followed by a few minutes walking up the hill, which wasn't a problem for either him or Dragonite.

Eventually the orange color he saw earlier came into view, and what he saw…..

"Look, I really fail to see why you won't want to join us? With what you know, we'll even waive the fee to only twenty-percent. Surely everyone has one million to spare."

Drake wasn't sure what was the strangest part of that sentence.

The idea that everyone had that kind of money lying around.

The fact that it was said by one of a duo dressed in completely orange three piece suits with orange shades visible on the back of their heads clinging to dyed orange hair.

Or the fact the latter said the former with complete sincerity, and not sarcasm at all.

"I can think of a few reasons: not only is your fashion sense horrible, but you keep bugging us. We really need to put up a sign telling you to stop coming here." In front of the two in eye bleeding orange was a short young man of an 'I've been training for a while' age.

With an all green coat and pants, large red-rimmed glasses, umbrella in his hand like some sort of aristocrat, and a voice that Drake could only call 'punchable', he wasn't sure the kid should be talking about horrible fashion sense.

"You can't, this isn't private property." The other orange dressed one said in a voice that was less whiny, and more 'I know the laws' factual. Drake had to admit it sounded odd coming from the person.

Were they capable of intelligence underneath the orange?

"You are getting close to it, and we're here to tell you two you aren't wanted and to go away." A second person with the punchable kid in green, was a girl who seemed a bit older than him. Blond hair with a hint of brown was done up in a ponytail, with gray eyes staring back at the orange dressed. She was wearing some sort of body suit with a membrane that seemed meant for catching wind and gliding around. Was that something Kalosians liked to do?

"Well the two of us aren't there yet, so you can't stop us with your chatter." The first orange man declared as the girl looked at them with a bit of realization.

So far it didn't seem to be that he was standing behind them.

"Wasn't there a third one of you bozos? The idiot thought to fight me in a Sky Battle and lost." The girl questioned as the other two fashion rejects looked uneasy.

"Oh..Triboulet…..yeah he took what you said a bit too literally."

"He really tried to kick his own ass and spare us the trouble?" The green haired one snarked.

"No. The guy remembered what you all said about 'if you want to keep bothering you, actually get a Mega Evolution too then maybe you could stop bothering us to see our own'. So he called up his daddy and got same day delivery on a Salamancite and Key Stone and tried it out. His funeral was yesterday."

Gurkinn's words about aggression rang through Drake's head as the orange people noted it, and his thoughts drifted to the Dragon he had captured to save its life earlier.

Was that a Salamanc….something? Salamanca? Salamanci? Salamancue? Salamance? Possibly the one they were talking about.

"I…do not even want to know what he managed to mess up for that to happen, but that doesn't mean you can badger us at Granny's place." The green kid declared as the two orange people held up a pair of Pokeballs at the two.

"When we beat your Mega Evolved Pokemon, you won't have any reason to deny us." The second declared as the gliding girl looked at them oddly.

"I appreciate effort as much as the next girl, but how many times has this been that you've insisted on fighting our Mega Evolutions? I've beaten you two, formerly three, twice, Pendula three times, Astrid twice, Freman four times, heck even Vermell beat you two once already!"

"On his own, cheeky league winning lump." Muttered the punchable one.

"What can we say, we feel confident today." Orange guy the first said confidently, though something about his tone rubbed Drake the wrong way.

It was confident, but not in an 'I will win a battle' way.

It was more what he heard whenever he lost a chess game to a sneaky player.

"Escavalier!"

"Accelgor!" Both of the orange twosome shouted as they threw their balls out.

Popping out in front of them were a pair of Pokemon Drake had never seen before.

The first was a Pokemon with a shiny shell that made Drake think it was part Steel type. It had a pair of spears for arms and hovered a bit over the field with some sort of magnetism.

The second was blue and pink, and had a body that made Drake assume it was agile. It sort of felt like a Bug-type to Drake, though he wasn't sure.

"You up for showing them the Mega Evolution they insist on fighting and losing against today? Venusaur isn't really a good match for these two." Green boy asked the girl.

Venusaur could mega evolve? That was good to know.

"Fine with me." She reached into a pocket in her suit and pulled out a ball of her own.

The two orange suits jumped back nearly onto him, only to turn around and looked at him like they only realized he was there now.

"Hey, who are you supposed to be? You aren't one of the local mountain family." The orange one who sent out the fast looking Pokemon shouted in alarm.

"You only just noticed he was here?" snarked the green one.

"You know what; people don't come here for no reason. Let's make this interesting with a four on four!" the metal orange one declared as the girl looked at them with an annoyed look.

"There are three of us."

"Figure it out yourselves!" The two in orange threw out two more Pokeballs, releasing Pokemon to join the battle.

Though they were ones that Drake recognized, being a Rhydon and a Golduck.

"If you insist!" Drake briefly considered declaring he was the Head Gym Leader of the Orange Islands, but decided against it as he threw out a Pokeball and jumped back as his choice of Pokemon was released.

"GRARHHHHH!"

Somehow the two in orange were not impressed by his Onix.

"….What knob uses an Onix instead of a Steelix?" One grunt wondered.

"You know people could say that of a Rhydon too you know, go!" the green kid threw out a Pokeball of his own, revealing the green evolution of Poliwhirl Politoed.

Not to be confused with the blue evolution of Poliwhirl, Poliwrath.

The girl followed up with a strong throw to release a Pidgeot, which stood over the Politoed and eyed the orange people in a familiar, 'are we doing this again' sort of look.

Around the Pidgeot's leg was a metal band with a stone glittering around it, much like the holder around Gurkinn's Lucario.

"Seeing as I let Y here have the big role, I'll be taking the other Pokemon today!" green kid, without asking him first, threw out a second Pokemon to join Politoed.

It was some sort of monkey, with red fur and a white collar around its neck.

"Simi!" It declared as the battle began.

"Use Scald!" The Golduck's orange trainer commanded as the duck let the water jet fly at Onix, clearly confident that the boiling hot water would take Onix down.

He seemed rather surprised when Onix easily twisted out of the way of the attack.

Clearly they never picked up that Onix evolving into Steelix was not like most evolutions. It was not a full on upgrade.

Speed was sacrificed.

"Dragon Breath!" And he would push that advantage.

Onix breathed out a purple hazy flame right at Golduck, who took the blast and was pushed back right at the Politoed, who flared up a Dynamic Punch and smacked the Golduck right back into the center.

It promptly began to wobble even as yellow static flared up around it. It had paralysis and confusion, and was promptly recalled out of the fight.

"Use Earthquake!" The Rhydon orange trainer shouted as the first two Pokemon hopped into the air: the metal one throwing the fast looking one up before the fast one use a string of glowing insect constructs to pull up the steel bug.

Rhydon then stomped down hard, shaking the entire area as Pidgeot took flight.

"Use Sand Tomb below yourself to cushion the ground!" Drake knew how to counter this. Onix roared as sand began spewing from between itself, forming a layer of sediment and a buffer to the attack.

Drake hopped onto the sand to minimize the shake up on his end.

The shake up rattled Politoed and 'Y', and knocked over Simisear and punchable kid.

Also the orange people, also the trees and mountain. Y's eye twitched in annoyance.

"Do you two _want_ to start a landslide!? I was going to see if we could bother not doing this for once, but I'm sending the two of you to Oz! Pidgeot!"

Pidgeot let out a call of agreement as the girl reached into her suit and pulled out a locket, which she opened to reveal the same sort of stone Gurkinn had tapped before Mega Evolution occurred.

She promptly tapped it, as yellow strings of light shot out up towards Pidgeot.

The two in orange let out a garbled shriek of fright, but Drake noticed something.

Their freaked out mouths were not those of terror or fear, but 'yes, yes, we've done it!'

Even with a hint of 'this will suck', there was still a hint of triumph on their faces, even as their orange flame buckles seemed to flash for a moment.

The lights met Pidgeot's leg band and like Lucario, the bird began to glow orange and shift. It grew larger wings and feathers, becoming much larger Pokemon.

The orange light exploded out, revealing a Pidgeot with blue tipped wings glaring at the orange duo.

"Take cover behind your Onix, and have it anchor itself!" Y shouted as Onix quickly slammed his tail into the earth.

"Hurricane!"

Pidgeot flapped its wings, creating a massive wind storm that flew at the two in orange.

Drake quickly ducked behind Onix as Onix steeled himself.

"This is why we have parachute….." Was all the Grunts had to say before being blown away by the winds, along with a few dead trees, into the distance. Drake's gaze followed them a ways, and indeed he did seem them deploy parachutes.

Very bright orange parachutes.

As Drake watched them fall away, Pidgeot landed in front of him and returned back to normal as the two trainers approached him cautiously.

Dragonite and Onix standing in ready in case it got ugly.

"So, now that those annoyances are gone for maybe a week, what brings you out here?" Y questioned cautiously as Pidgeot eyed Dragonite, completely skipping over Onix.

Onix grumbled lowly, clearly feeling insulted. Drake assume it was simply a case of Pidgeot recognizing that Dragonite was more powerful even beyond the 'evolved' arguments, nothing more.

"This is Pomace Mountain, correct?" Drake questioned as the punchable kid eyed him.

"Who wants to know?"

"Someone who was told that a Mega Evolution expert lives here who doesn't have a stick up his ass." Drake declared as Y raised an eyebrow.

"Gurkinn's still jerkin'?"

"Yes." Drake said simply at the joke given as the two kids eyed one another, before gesturing up the mountain.

"Well if you've come out all the way here, might as well come on up. If you're wasting all our times, you can leave quicker."

Punchable kid's words were quickly ignored as Drake returned Onix and said kid his own Pokemon as Pidgeot flew on ahead, followed by the three humans and Dragonite.

…

A bit more walking up the mountain path found the forest ending, and a mountain slope was revealed.

A large grass covered plain, awash with fresh mountain breezes that were almost drinkable with flavors, even as the nearby mountains shone with worn brilliant stone.

Drake couldn't help but smile in amazement as he saw them.

"…..Yeah, I was like too when I first saw the stuff." The girl who called herself Y admitted with her head turned back his way.

"Mountains like this were created millions of years ago by colliding tectonic plates. These mountains used to be even taller than they are now, and stretched ever father. Glaciers and rivers formed the lands between them, creating the swamps and the plains." The punchable kid mused in a tone that sounded like it came off a documentary.

Well now he knew the geographical history of Kalos…what he'd do with that information was a question to be answered later.

They walked through the breezy meadow for a good few more minutes as a tree came into view: a massive deciduous variety of some sort that had a house at its base, and several dozen more outbuildings and structures sticking out of it at random.

It honestly reminded him of a cartoon he once watched during a sick day after he lost the remote. It had something to do with two by four technology and some guy obsessed with toilets or something.

Pidgeot was standing in front of them, staring at Dragonite with the same look of recognition within its eyes.

Even with Mega Evolution, the bird knew that Dragonite would be a powerful opponent. What that said about Dragonite made Drake feel a swelling of pride in his chest.

But where was the master that old Joy talked about? What did he look and act like anyway?

Pidgeot gestured and Y returned the bird, the red light that resulted fading away as a hovering chair's shape was revealed.

This was followed shortly by the occupant of the chair, whose appearance became quite clear.

"Why, this is certainly a surprise. Tell me, what brings the head gym leader of the Orange Crew all the way out here?" Asked the wrinkled woman shorter than Drake was before puberty, her eyes squinted slits obscured by a straw hat.

The master was an old woman…..his mistake.

Y and the boy yet unnamed looked at him in surprise.

"The Orange Islands?"

"They have gym leaders there?"

Drake ignored the second statement.

"I'll admit I don't know how it is done: before I ask for your assistance do I bow or curtsey or…." Drake decided to make he'd be doing the correct politeness gesture as the woman shook her head.

"I'm no queen so that is unnecessary."

"Okay then." And with that, Drake explained.

He told the woman about what he had been noticing with his wins recently, the discovering of the documentation of his weaknesses and the building up of a blueprint for beating him. He explained the reason he came here, why he had come to her mountain specifically, and what had happened when he went to speak with Gurkinn about the same desire.

The woman was silent for a moment.

"I see…..tell me, why can't you simply retire if an untarnished record is what you seek?

Wasn't that the same response Gurkinn gave him?

"That isn't an option." Drake stated simply. The woman's gaze (or what he could tell of it) wandered a bit.

If Drake had to guess, it was towards Dragonite.

The gaze of the woman lingered for a moment before a smile formed on her face.

"I see. Come with me."

The hover chair promptly rotated one hundred and eighty degrees before floating along the windy plains.

Drake followed, and did so for about three minutes until they came upon a dip in the hill that looked rather comfy. Could one sleep on it?

That was what he was pretty sure people did on wind swept slopes of grass after all.

The old woman smiled, before whistling. A moment later a pink shape descended from the sky and landed on top of Dragonite's head, before glowing green.

The green glow extended out beneath Dragonite, enriching the plant life at Dragonite's feet. Dragonite developed a relaxed look on his face from this.

"There, this Hoppip's Grassy Terrain will restore Dragonite for when you'll need him." The woman declared as Drake moved to ask what she meant, but she wasn't done.

"Oh Pendula!" The woman called.

A Pendula? What sort of Pokemon was that supposed to be?

He did see a Pokemon here that looked like a keyring, was there a Pendulum Pok….

A blond head popped up from behind an obscuring bush: a blond head of hair done up short. A pair of red eyes looked at the woman in surprise, under which were a pair of marks.

"Granny, is something up?"

"Battle this man, would you dear?" The old woman said simply as Drake looked at the old woman in surprise.

A look mirrored by everyone else here.

"Um granny, battling is more my thing…." The boy began as she smiled.

"Oh I know Herbert. However I need to see for myself where this man is beyond what title he holds. Pendula's strengths may not be in battle, but she'll make an excellent start."

Not in battle? Was she a Pokemon Coordinator or something?

The Pendula girl stood up over the bush, stepping over it and approached, and Drake was surprised with what he noted.

Namely that the girl was about as tall as he was!

When she walked over to him, she could look him right in the eye. She couldn't be much older than Luana's son….

What did they feed girls in Kalos!?

She was hardly gangly, and her pink and black dress and black tights did work for her, but Drake would have to think if he had ever seen a girl that tall.

Even among adult women.

"How many Pokemon you want?" Pendula questioned, unaware of just how confounding her height was to him.

"Three will be good."

She nodded as she reached for a Pokeball and flung it into the air. She jumped back as the ball released out a Pokemon Drake was aware of, but had never seen.

After all the magnetism that would induce a Magneton to become Magnezone was not found in the Orange Islands.

"Then three it is."

Y and Herbert took some steps back while the old woman calmly had her hover chair reverse, a move followed by Dragonite and his Hoppip hat.

"Alright, I'll follow. Electabuzz, go!"

Drake's electric Pokemon popped up with a stretching motion of electricity trailing along her body.

"I'll let you go first." Drake told the tall girl who nodded.

"Magnezone let's start with Lock-On!"

Magnezone's eye flared red as a red dot formed on Electabuzz's chest. She rubbed it, but it did not go away.

"Now Zap Cannon!" Magnezone formed a yellow ball of sparking light in front of itself and fired it right at Electabuzz.

"Block it with Mud Slap!" Drake shouted as Electabuzz slammed her fists into the ground. The shake up formed a stream of brown earth to slam into the oncoming electrical attack, fizzling it out.

"Now Dynamic Punch!" Electabuzz charged in the wake of the falling mud attack, her fist glowing red with the powerful attack.

"Magnet Rise!" Pendula's command was followed by a rising Magnezone floating over the arena. Two steps into the dart however, Electabuzz smashed the ground with Dynamic Punch, flinging herself into the air and spinning for a moment, her tail smacking Magnezone's underside.

Electabuzz then spun around and decked Magnezone with the glowing punch, sending the Electric-Steel type crashing into the earth below as Electabuzz landed mostly gracefully.

Pendula returned Magnezone, who was beeping weakly.

The Magnezone had good power and motion, it was clearly not untrained. However the reaction time to Electabuzz's jump was not what he was used to seeing.

It was slow.

It made sense really: Pendula's strength's 'were not in battle', so she did something else. Pokeathalon training, coordinating, some Kalosian third thing….it was training, but not in the way of battle.

Still, while he had stopped that Zap Cannon, the move showed good power and force. That would not have been good to take, even with a type resistance.

Pendula sent out a second Pokemon, which landed in front of Electabuzz. It wasn't one he had seen before: being some sort of black Pokemon with features like an Arcanine or Houndoom, but bipedal. It had red claws and a long red mane of hair behind itself.

Drake assumed it was a Dark-type, but what it was beyond that was besides him.

"You're pretty good. I'm not going to really get you to show your stuff for Granny if I fight you like a trainer." Pendula declared.

"So, you are to fight me as what exactly?" A baker perhaps? Was she going to throw cookies at him to distract him or something?

….If that was the case, could he make requests of which sort to throw his way? He preferred sugar cookies personally, but he could make do with snickerdoodles.

"No, as a Pokemon Performer!" Pendula declared as her Pokemon lunged forward.

"Electabuzz, remember my voice! If that thing is a performer, it might try to sound like me to throw us off!" Drake declared, remembering the traveling troupes of performers he had seen.

Voice control and ventriloquism could be a dangerous thing in battle!

"We're not vocal performers." Pendula quipped as her Pokemon shimmered in form, even as Electabuzz prepared to generate a layer of static electricity around herself.

The static faltered when it wasn't a Pokemon of unknown name and type lunging at her, but of a blonde girl with a fox like grin, dressed in bright pink show get up.

Said girl's right hand suddenly had a baton in hand, which swiped across Electabuzz with a reddish-black glow.

Electabuzz stammered back as Pendula and the Pokemon turned girl bowed in unision.

"We use visuals." Pendula declared.

Yes, that did seem to be true but….what was even the Pokemon you were using?

Was it some sort of Kalosian Ditto? If so, how did it use Night Slash? Electabuzz could not use that move.

"Electabuzz Thunderbolt!" His electric type began generating the electrical energy, as the Pokemon who was now looking like a pop singer feigned a look of terror and shock at the sight of the attack.

Feign, as in Drake could tell that it was exaggerating. He had seen theater troupes after all, and he knew that some Pokemon were good at playing such gambits and tricks.

Mostly Ghost and Dark types, and a few Normal types.

"El…." Electabuzz stopped generating electricity, looking nervously at the faux terror.

"Electabuzz?" Drake questioned, not sure what was going on.

"Now, let's keep this up! This is all dress rehearsal for our third princess key, let's see how convincing we can make it! Let's try something more dance this time!" The Pokemon darted forward, shimmering in its human form again.

Electabuzz generated electricity for an attack in the few seconds it was changing, but it fizzled out again as the blonde human illusion reappeared, this time as more of a ballerina type performer.

Said illusion spun around and kicked Electabuzz with a sweeping leg motion.

Electabuzz was knocked down, as Drake got a sinking suspicion what was going on.

He had first met Electabuzz as an Elekid years ago. Back them she was an aggressive Pokemon, who did not hesitate to attack humans and Pokemon alike to get what she wanted.

He had put in a lot of work to break her of that habit, to get her to not harm people in the midst of his travels and rise to position as Head Gym Leader.

He was now reaping the consequences of a long process of training against attacking people.

"Return." He called Electabuzz back. This wasn't going to end well.

The disguised Pokemon stood with Pendula, waiting for his next Pokemon.

"So, what do you think of my Zoroark's little tricks?"

"I'm thinking I now know the name of your Pokemon." Drake declared sismply as he sent out Venusaur. His old friend roared, as he caught Herbert react to his Venusaur.

He was happy to see that the look was of being impressed. That felt good, he would make sure Venusaur was aware of it after this.

"Knowing my Pokemon's name won't make it any easier for you: go!" The Zoroark charged as a ballerina at his somewhat confused Venusaur.

"Vine Whip!" There was a difference between his Electabuzz and Venusaur.

Venusaur did not need extensive training to not go after human trainers in cheap shots. As a result of this lack of necessary training, a vine swatted the faux ballerina away.

"Saur?" Venusaur grunted as the ballerina became the fox once more became visibly a fox. It struggled up, glaring at Venusaur as Pendula looked a bit put off.

"I guess that last one was a fluke. Still, I have a few more tricks, even if I am not sure they'd win me a Princess Key without a really specific theme performance. Double Team!"

The Zoroark was suddenly now five, even if only one was solid.

"Vine Whip will solve that quickly." Drake declared as Pendula grinned.

"This theme isn't done being set up yet: Zoroark it's morphing time!"

That random reference made somewhat more sense as a red haze swept out from the Zoroark duplicates, who were now all clad in bright spandex colors of Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink, and Black, complete with face concealing masks and belts with a shiny emblem on them.

Drake and Venusaur could only stare, which Drake supposed could be considered a battle mechanic. Most opponents would be thrown off by the random appearance of media icons, and thus be a tad slow to react.

Pendula, who was now clad in a green spandex uniform as well that probably came from whatever it was Zoroark just did, took advantage of that as the Zoroark dupes charged at Venusaur with glowing blue fists and boots.

All of them struck Venusaur, but only the Red Zoroark Ranger's impact was solid and damaged Venusaur. Said rangers darted back before lunging again.

"Stop it with Sludge Bomb!" Drake focused on the Red Zoroark Ranger as Venusaur fired the globule of purple slime out of his flower like a rocket.

It landed on the charging Zoroark, who fizzled out as a dupe.

The Pink Zoroark Ranger kicked Venusaur with the glowing blue boot of spandex-clad justice instead, knocking his old friend down.

He got back up, but the Zoroark Rangers were still there, with a new Red Zoroark Ranger up and about now.

"So I see, your Zoroark's illusion can also change what the real one and the fakes look like too." Drake surmised as Pendula the Green Ranger nodded with pride.

It wasn't a bad idea at all, especially if the Double Team dupes could be quickly replaced after damage.

However there was a method of countering it he still had up his sleeve.

He signaled to Venusaur with a discrete hand motion, who knew what to do from there.

As the Zoroark Rangers charged once more he nodded to Venusaur. Venusaur grinned, before roaring loudly.

Seconds later a storm of sharp pink petals exploded out from itself, surrounding itself in a massive spinning shield of Petal Blizzard petals.

Zoroarok, no longer in disguise, was thrown out of the storm at the non-spandex illusion Pendula once more, defeated.

Pendula kneeled down to check on Zoroark as Venusaur let out a victory bellow.

That was two down and one to go. Drake glanced over to Dragonite, who was looking better.

If he did need Dragonite, he'd be good to go unless this girl had something really crazy up her sleeve.

Even without battle focused training, a performance Articuno could pose him difficulties.

Zoroark recalled Pendula was now holding her last Pokeball, a grin on her face.

"Well you're pretty good. If I had never met Granny I doubt I could beat you. Let's see if me meeting Granny changes that fact."

And with that declaration, she sent out her last Pokemon, who fluttered in the air before landing in front of her with cloud like wings.

"Taria!" Declared the Flying Pokemon that was blue in body with wings like clouds. A pair of blue head feathers stretched out, around which was tied a red ribbon.

That ribbon had a stone tied up in it.

This Pokemon could Mega Evolve. He'd have to be cautious.

"Substitute." Venusaur shimmered as a white glow formed around himself.

"Use Disarming Voice!" Pendula's order was followed by the bird taking into the air and taking a deep breath, before blowing manifested sound waves down.

The rings struck Venusaur without shaking the white protection at all. Drake grimaced at that.

The Pokemon could work around his defenses.

"Giga Drain!" Two holes formed in the protective layer as green energy bands shot from Venusaur, wrapping themselves around the Pokemon's neck and beginning to drain.

However while the bird let out a cry of pain from the strike, the energy flow was noticeably sluggish coming from Giga Drain.

It hurt for the relative strength difference, but the attack was barely effective.

Drake knew it would have some sort of slow down from being Flying, but did this Pokemon have another type that Giga Drain wasn't agreeing with.

"Power Swap!" Pendula commanded next as the Giga Drain gained a pink aura as Venusaur let out a confused grunt. The Giga Drain became even more sluggish.

"Power Swap?" He heard Y ask.

"Yeah, it's a move that swaps the attacking powers of the opponent and yourself. Pendula was thinking about using it with Cotton Guard or something." Herbert provided exposition as Drake grimaced.

That was a new one for him, even after his many years of battle. This was going to be a problem.

That problem was compounded when Pendula pulled out a golden locket from within her shirt and held it up.

The locket looked well-crafted and expensive, and probably actually made of gold some long period ago. It had that look of well-aged riches to itself, with carvings that resembled the black marks that had appeared on Gurkinn's Lucario upon mega evolving somewhat.

They all led to the stone that Y and Gurkinn had used.

"So, what do you think? We found this by chance, and I think it looks rather nice on me. It was owned by actual royalty at one point, but I think you're more interested in the function instead of its form and history. So Altaria!" She named her Pokemon as she tapped the stone that jutted out of the heirloom.

From said stone yellow light shot forward towards Altaria, who received it with a bellow as it glowed orange and changed, shattering the Giga Drain once and for all.

Both Drake and Venusaur looked at the Pokemon in dread as the white cloud fluff took a new shape: exposing the body while giving the back a large ponytail of cumulous.

Altaria's tail grew longer, dangling down in the air with a flutter as the light exploded, revealing the Mega Altaria staring both of them down.

"Now Fury Attack!" Pendula flew down at Venusaur, the beak of the Pokemon growing longer and glowing pink.

Said beak shattered Venusaur's white defensive layer in one blow, before three more struck Venusaur in rapid succession and sent Venusaur stumbling back.

"Venusaur, can you still stand?"

"Dragon Pulse!"

Drake was answered by the green glowing energy ball striking his old friend, knocking Venusaur out before the Pokemon flew back into the air, fluttering in the air in waiting for the next battle.

Drake returned Venusaur with praise for a good job done. He didn't need to turn around to know Dragonite was walking his way, a determined look on his face.

"Dragonite, Dragon Pulse!" Drake quickly called. That move taught him something.

That Pokemon was a Flying-something type, and that attack suggested it was Dragon.

This would get things going.

Dragonite formed the green sphere in front of himself, before sending it flying at Altaria.

The attack disintegrated on impact, which left Drake dumbfounded.

What?

That was not supposed to happen. That hadn't happened since that time he was nearly killed by a Wigglytuff as a child.

That was a Fairy thing, which didn't make any sense. This wasn't a pink balloon trying to eat a younger him, and Fairy would not make Giga Drain so ineffective.

Was it possible…..

"Disarming Voice!" Pendula called as the sound waves were fired once more.

He'd have to confirm his suspicion.

"Thunderbolt!" Dragonite's antenna sparked with electrical force before firing.

The electrical attack shattered the Disarming Voice, which caused Herbert to gasp loudly in surprise. The Thunderbolt traveled up and shocked Altaria, who once again took damage from it, but less than it should have.

The answer was clear: Altaria had changed type!

As the Mega floated down awkwardly he could hear mutterings behind him.

"That did a lot to a Mega Evolution, even with a type advantage. Just how strong is that Dragonite?" Herbert questioned.

"Strong enough that they have never known defeat." Declared the old woman sagely.

"Ice Beam!" If it was still Dragon-type, this would hurt.

As the tendrils of cold flew towards Altaria, Pendula had something in mind for it.

"Use Cotton Guard!" With a flap of cloudy wings Altaria blew forward a massive ball of fluff that took Ice Beam for Altaria before dropping like a lead weight to the ground below.

"Now Fury Attack!"

As Altaria flew at Dragonite with a glowing pink beak, Drake knew they'd have to work to avoid that attack.

It didn't seem like a normal Fury Attack: did this Altaria have one of those attack type changing abilities?

"Block it!" Dragonite wooed in agreement as his left fist ignited.

Fire Punch clashed with Fury Attack, deflecting the first jab. Altaria swung for a second, which was blocked by a glowing right fist.

As Brick Break and Fire Punch were used, Dragonite was out of hands to block the third jab, that struck Dragonite's hide with audible force.

"Dragonite!" Drake exclaimed in concern for his partner, moments before Dragonite stopped the fourth jab with a move of his own.

By grabbing Altaria around its entire body, trapping the bird's head to fruitlessly flail over Dragonite's shoulder out of range for a blow.

Drake knew what was next.

"Body Slam!" Dragonite jumped into the air, flipping to have Altaria on the bottom before using both his wings, and gravity, to speed to the ground.

"Protect yourself with Cotton…" Pendula shouted as they made impact into the earth with a powerful impact wave that blew the grass flat.

"….Guard…." she finished weakly as Dragonite flew back from the impact zone, looking little worse for wear that a Sitrus Berry couldn't fix.

Altaria flashed orange as it returned to normal, defeated.

The old woman drove her hover chair their way as Pendula returned Altaria with a sad smile on her face.

"You did wonderfully, take a good rest."

"That is most certainly the truth. It isn't the average trainer who can take an attack from a Champion's ace and still stand to send another back." The old woman congratulated as she turned to look at him with the look of an old person with more behind her question than the simple words.

"So, you still wish to find a solution to your concerns about defeat?"

Drake nodded in agreement as the old woman gave him a sagely smile.

"Very well, we will oblige your wishes. For as long as you have here in Kalos, we'll help you gain the power to overcome your fear of defeat. Once a day, you will battle one of my grandchildren. By the time you leave, you will have grown."

Drake nodded again in thanks, before the words the woman was saying registered a bit more.

"Are you doing that 'mysterious old mentor giving a lesson that the young student doesn't realize' thing?"

The old woman smiled mischievously.

"I'm hardly that mysterious, though I am certainly old. But yes, perhaps I'm doing that, perhaps I am not. I have my own suggestions for you, but perhaps you will walk away from us with a mega stone and the knowledge to use it should fate move in that way. Perhaps you will have something else. We can only see can't we? Now come, let's see if we can get you settled in at Casa Mabel. We can heal your Pokemon while we're at it too, follow me."

Drake, assuming that Mabel was the name of the old woman, followed the old woman and her three grandchildren that looked nothing alike, Dragonite following in tow.

….

As the day turned to an end, Drake stared at the ceiling he had been provided, thoughts railing in his mind.

He had a few weeks to figure out whatever lesson it was that he was supposed to learn, then he'd be stronger.

Even if it wasn't as straight forward as 'learn this and I'll teach you mega evolution', it would be something. Something that would make him stronger, and throw off the people who were trying to create the perfect Drake trap.

Even if he had no idea what that thing would be.

"….Why would I be last?" He heard a voice ring through the quiet. It wasn't a voice he had heard yet, and it had a trace of an accent that Drake wasn't that familiar with.

"Trust an old gran Vermell, she knows what she is doing." Mabel declared in a soothing voice, just in his audible range.

"His strength is great. Even for his regions reputation, his power is in the range of Drasna and Siebold, if not Diantha herself. I'm the only one here who has ever battled one of them; there is no way that any of the others could defeat him."

Drake couldn't help but smile at the comparison.

"You underestimate them Vermell, though I must admit I do like the concern I hear in your tone. It's good for you to care about others. No, Drake does not need to learn a lesson of power, which you are best to test him on. No, it's a totally other lesson he needs to learn if he wants to grow."

Drake felt an annoyed look cross his face. He did not get to where he was today by being some nimrod who thought you could make it by, say, burning your Ursaring into obedience with a Thunderbolt for two hours or something monstrous and idiotic like that. He did not need a lesson in treating Pokemon with respect and love.

Sure, if someone wanted to be really pedantic the fact it took him until after the introductions and battle that ensued to talk to Mabel and her little band about the Salamence, but it was handled expediently and empathetically. One of the other young people here, a young man named Chauliac, was already applying medical knowledge to helping the dragon.

"He doesn't seem like the type to need to love and care lesson." Vermell apparently agreed with him.

"There are many more lessons one needs to learn than the ones on power and love." And with that cryptic remark Drake overheard nothing more that night but what he suspected was Pendula snoring.

* * *

'Punchable Kid/Herbert is the Mega Venusaur Trainer from the fourth special, for the curious.

Tarasque's ties to Heratia do not make him the grandfather of Ash, Red, Pendula, Vermell, and the rest of that little crazy family (spoilers, Vermell and Pendula are Ash's halfsiblings, two of hundreds sired by Ash's father): As mentioned elsewhere in the Resetverse none of her sons share a father, so he could be the father of Capriccio or Felgrand instead of Ash's father. The exact identity of Ash's grandfather on his father's side is not particularly relevant to Reset's story, so it needs not be specified.

While I do not want to write Lysandre at the moment for fear my personal American politics could have it so Lysandre decide to destroy the world because of my opposite half of the American political spectrum, I figured the grunts were fair game. As to what they were up to...well you know what Alain was doing for Lysandre in the anime? Well think that, but knowing that is what they are doing and being not as good at it as he is.

Alright next time...and the chapters going forward, will feature more battles, more character moments, and other stuffs. Don't expect as fast an update as this one was though.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, time for some more action in the Drake corner.

A few more battles, a few more character bits, and we see just how much I actually have for this little side story.

Enjoy

* * *

A few days later, Drake continued to try and figure out what Mabel wanted him to learn, and that meant more battles in which he encountered the power of Mega Evolution.

Today's Mega Evolution being Venusaur's.

Mega Venusaur was a different beast from a regular Venusaur.

It was larger, with more growth on the plants upon its back. The Pokemon also had more weight to it in the mega evolved state.

Drake could tell this from a few moments of observation, even as a battle waged.

A battle he lost as a Vine Whip slugged Ditto, knocking it out of its transformed state as Herbert's Simisear.  
"Ditto is unable to battle!" Pendula declared as he returned his transforming partner with a appreciate word.

"Ha! You might have gotten in some lucky moves in, but with Venusaur out there is no way you can win. You can start calling me champion now." Herbert boasted with a puffed out chest.

"Those lucky moves mean that Venusaur is your last Pokemon." Y snarked from the sidelines, deflating Herbert a bit from his high.

Ditto had defeated Simisear and Politoed, meaning that the advantage was still on him when it came to sheer numbers. However, that was no reason to become complacent.

Complacency meant defeat. He could never lose.

He must never lose.

Thankfully he was pretty sure that even with the observed Thick Fat ability this Venusaur gained from mega evolving, that the weaknesses of Venusaur were still retained. Weaknesses he knew how to exploit.

"Go!" Drake called as he sent out his second Pokemon, whose landing shook the earth beneath him.

"Your Venusaur? Against my _mega-evolved_ Venusaur? I know that you can find this sort of thing online with less evolved Pokemon, but against a mega-evolved one?" Herbert seemed baffled at his choice.

It was a opinion that most of his fellows did not seem to share, given how several of them shook their heads in a combination of disbelief and an understanding of the concept of 'jinxing yourself'.

"My Venusaur has specifically trained to fight other Venusaur. That will be all we need." Drake declared as Herbert looked at him in amusement.

"Yeah sure, whatever makes you feel good about this."

"You know what to do!" Drake ordered as his Venusaur bellowed loudly, before letting forth a storm of Vine Whips right at the Mega-Venusaur.

"Poking us into defeat huh? Well we can do that better!"

Mega Venusaur used its own Vine Whip storm, as the vines began making contact against the other in two distinct styles.

His Venusaur struck into Mega Venusaur all over in the form of quick jabs, striking in and out before going for another point too fast to predict the next spot.

Mega Venusaur used Vine Whip to slap instead, striking in the same general area. The end result of that was a more sizeable damage output, and as the vines were retracted after a good fifteen seconds of exchanged blows Drake was well aware that his Venusaur was the one barely standing, and covered in massive welts across his forehead.

"Saur..." Painful welts it sounded like.

Both Herbert and his Venusaur chuckled in victorious pride, before said Venusaur seized up and collapsed onto the ground with splayed legs and limp vines falling to the ground.

"Wha!?" Herbert declared in shock.

"My Venusaur struck yours in major effective pressure points controlling battle function. While Mega Evolution did change it, these pressures points remained consistent and were successfully applied. Your Venusaur is paralyzed, it is not able to move and will not be able to for some time." Drake declared as he heard the sounds of an impressed audience to his side.

Even Mabel gave an approving noise to their tactic.

"Will it take more than five minutes?" Pendula inquired.

"An hour tops."

"Then by time alone Herbert's Venusaur is disqualified. The winner is Drake!"

…

Chauliac himself wasn't here at the moment, as he was out getting some herbs that would benefit Salamance, who while no longer on the verge of starving to death was still doing poorly, though he had left his partner here to ensure that any issue that came up would be addressed.

Chauliac's partner Pokemon was an Audino, a Pokemon Drake had only heard of as the Pokemon of choice for Unovan Nurse Joy.

The Pokemon did have a bit of familiarity to the Chansey line that Drake was used to, though as a species it seemed to favor using Heal Pulse over Softboiled.

Regardless of the move choice it did seem to be doing the trick, as both his and Herbert's Venusaur (the latter still being Mega-evolved as a apparent side effect of what he did, he barely understood what Mabel and a kid named Corentin had said in the aftermath though he was pretty sure they said something about it reversing eventually.

They only got that Venusaur here because of Vermell, whose Ursaring had carried it. Said Vermell was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed.

Mostly it seemed to not get involved in the following conversation.

"We need to find him again Venusaur."

Herbert's solemn declaration was followed by Korrina, the granddaughter of Gurkinn, shaking her head.

"Yeah, sure, you do that. If you find Santa Claus while you at it, think you can put in a request for me?"

Herbert stomped his foot following this quip.

"Why does no one ever believe me when I say it. It's not like I came back with nothing the last time I met the guy. I beat Astrid with what I learned from him, and it certainly didn't come from any of you guys."

"You had a clever idea, that doesn't mean it came from some Gladiator." Corentin declared.

"Also, the story you keep telling about him is madness. You go into the caves in the mountain, and somehow end up in the home of some brain who calls himself the Coliseum Gladiator, who you battled and learned from. You can't say it isn't more far fetched than a Farfetch'd dance number."

Was that a saying in Kalos? Because if it was, it wasn't a good one. He was sure he saw a Farfetch'd dance number once, or a theater Farfetch'd who did background dancing.

Though he had to admit, the idea did seem kind of silly. Go inside this mountain, meet 'Coliseum Gladiator', and battle him?

"Hey wait, I just thought of something. Orange guy!"

The shout from Herbert was aimed at him, so he looked at the kid, who continued.

"You're the Orange League Champion, so that means you know what the Orange League Trophy looks like."

"I have the same one from when I first was appointed to my position. It was meant to go to the first person who ever beat me, and it had never been handed out. So yes, I know what it looks like." Drake confirmed, not sure what Herbert was going at.

"Does it have Silver Wings with the rest of it being gold with a Master Ball design on top?"

"Yeah."

"Well the Coliseum Gladiator had one of those displayed with other trophies of his past victories. Since I had no idea that trophy was the Orange League Trophy specifically, that clearly proves that he is real."

"Or you're making a bad lie to try and justify yourself." Y snarked as Drake took the cue to join Vermell in not engaging the argument further.

It was true that said trophy description was along the lines of his own: each Orange League Head Gym Leader had their own trophy design specially created. However that meant that there was only a single of those trophies.

A trophy he had never given to anyone, and could never afford to give to anyone. How a theoretically existing 'Coliseum Gladiator' had a similar trophy was beyond him, but it wasn't from him.

For the undefeated Head Gym Leader Drake had never given away a trophy to anyone, though as a result the exact description of the trophy was obscure enough he did have to wonder how Herbert knew the design was Master Ball themed.

A lucky guess?

The conversation was interrupted by a pink-haired Bishonen with a armload of herbs in hand.

"I leave for an hour and another Coliseum Gladiator argument starts." Chauliac son of a Joy grumbled.

"Another?"

Chauliac looked at Drake and shook his head.

"I can't say what happened beyond what my medical knowledge showed me, but what I can tell you that someone did defeat Herbert's entire team the day he claimed to have battled the Coliseum Gladiator. He fought something, but if it was a Gladiator, a wild Pokemon, or something else is up to what you personally believe. The who and how isn't important to my family, all that matters is the healing afterwards."

With that declared he continued off towards where Salamance was, muttering about mutual stubbornness under his breath the entire way.

…

After checking on the still ailing dragon, what questions of the Coliseum Gladiator (who may or may not exist) were put aside.

For Drake had another battle on Mabel's instructions to undergo.

This time against Corentin.

Corentin was a straggly brown-haired teenager with a look to him that Drake could probably be safe in calling nerdy. He looked smart, and wasn't particularly tall or muscular.

Of course as they were not playing a human sport Drake knew that meant nothing. Agatha looked like a shriveled old woman and she could give him a run for his money, possibly even defeat him.

It was among the reasons he had never felt interested in battling Elite Four members.

He adjusted a bow tie around his neck, and probably would have adjusted his glasses if he had a pair, before offering him words.

"You said you came here to find a way to avoid being defeated by ongoing analysis?"

He didn't phrase it like that, but it wasn't an inaccurate way of putting it.

"You know data can never be defeated right? Even if you render the data before you mostly outdated, it will still be there, and it will grow as people notice more about you."

Corentin's boast about the power of data analysis deserved a quippy response, and he hoped this would suffice.

"I'm cutting it off before it can become a problem. If you think data will tell you how to beat me, then you are the biggest fool here."

"No, that's Herbert. I'm not declaring I will use data to defeat you, I am merely making an observation of your possible futile struggle. Now, let's see if you can learn anything today."

With that he threw a Pokeball into the air, which released a floating brown Pokemon that didn't make a sound.

"A Shedinja." Drake identified it. While not something you'd find in the Orange Islands, he had heard tales of this Pokemon.

A Pokemon that could only be defeated by super effective attacks, but would go down in a single hit. It was why he always ensured that Dragonite knew at least one such move.

He took steps to ensure they'd never lose to such a thing. Of course it wasn't just Dragonite who was prepared for such a foe.

"Onix!" Drake sent out his first choice as the battle began.

"Stone Edge!" Drake suspected there would be something set up to work around the weakness, but in case this was just a test Onix formed the rotating stones around himself and sent them flying at the motionless Bug.

"Phantom Force!" Corentin's call was followed seconds later by the insect vanishing from sight, the Stone Edge flying harmlessly through the Pokemon's former location.

A dark blur slammed into Onix's neck moments later as the attack landed, knocking Onix's neck back.

Onix recovered just as Shedinja floated back to where it had began, and with such a move Drake took a guess at how this would go from here.

The Shedinja would dodge his Stone Edge with Phantom Force, then strike Onix as to prevent a second attack. It would then slink back to where it started to repeat the process.

He'd need a bit more tactics to win this one, and Drake had just the idea of how to go about it.

"That won't work a second time! Stone Edge now!" Onix roared as the second Stone Edge attack manifested.

"Phantom Force!" Corentin had a face that was a mix between 'my plan is working', and 'this guy must be up to something'. Despite such concerns, the nature of Shedinja meant it had to avoid Stone Edge, and so the odd Pokemon vanished again into nothing as Stone Edge flew.

"Now Sandstorm!" Drake declared as Corentin let out a gasp in surprise.

The shadowy blur appeared as it had before, only for a storm of sand particles to blow out of Onix's many nooks and form into a whirlwind around him.

Shedinja was caught in the whirlwind, and was promptly sent spinning like a top into the air before landing in front of Corentin. Onix bellowed victoriously as the first round went to them.

"I see, so that was your plan."

With that Corentin returned his Pokemon, and Drake wondered what would be his next choice. With a Shedinja came a Ninjask, or so he was told. Perhaps that would be it?

That wasn't the case, as the second Pokemon that came out was one that Drake had not seen before. It was a quadraped of brown coloration, with dark black horns and vegetation growing upon it.

With such a color, Drake was going to assume Grass-type.

Onix let out a low groan that Drake could roughly translate as 'this is going to suck.'

"Type alone doesn't decide everything." Drake reassured Onix.

"It's but one of at least 74 factors." Corentin absently added as the sand began to glow into his Pokemon's eyes.

"Use Rain Dance, non-Break prep levels." The Pokemon's eyes flashed blue as a soft drizzle began coming down. It washed away the sand, but it wasn't otherwise prominent.

Non-Break prep level?

Whatever that was, Drake would deal with it in time.

"Use Dragonbreath!" Onix took a deep breath, ignoring the rain as they had practiced in such light drizzles past, before firing the attack.

"Use Surf to block!"

The Pokemon bellowed loudly as a wave of water formed around it from the aether. Said wave pushed outward, absorbing the Dragonbreath and the light drizzle as it struck Onix head on.

Said impact knocked his Pokemon down, where it struggled to get back up. The match was not over...

"Now Horn Leech!"

The Pokemon's horns shimmered green before firing right into Onix. Said horns retracted to an Onix who was no longer trying to get up.

Now the match was over. They were one-one now.

As he returned Onix he gave it a thank you for battling well, before looking at his still unnamed opponent.

This match was not over yet.

"Gengar!" He sent out his second Pokemon, the Ghost Pokemon floating over the field and grinning right at the unfazed opponent.

He'd see what type that Pokemon was exactly.

"Gengar, Sludge Bomb!"

Gengar pointed his fingers at the enemy Pokemon, before purple globules fired out of each hand in rapid succession.

"Gogoat quickly, block it with Surf!" The now named Pokemon stamped its hooves as another wall of water rose up to block the attack. The wave didn't push out this time, and dissipated away after Sludge Bomb was done.

"Thunderbolt!" Drake quickly ordered as Gengar quickly zapped the Gogoat. The attack moved before the Pokemon could retaliate, but it stood the attack fairly solidly.

The attack wasn't very effective.

"Horn Leech!"

It didn't even hinder Gogoat from shooting out another attack from its horns. Said attack struck Gengar in the gut, knocking his Pokemon away in a spin while ceasing the Thunderbolt. As the electricity faded a green recovery aura surrounded Gogoat.

When Gengar was done spinning he didn't look too fazed.

That suggested the attack was also not every effective. A Grass-attack perhaps?

If it was, a bit odd to see such a Pokemon using Surf.

"Hypnosis!"

Gengar's eyes shone blue right at Gogoat's way, who countered by closing its eyes.

Gengar promptly stopped attacking and pouted at Gogoat the way one would a spoilsport.

"It's that easy?" Korrina stated in disbelief.

"Usually, yes." Corentin shrugged.

At this point Drake wished Gengar knew Phantom Force. It would let them get past that Surf wall and strike. However Gengar did not know such a move, and so they'd need to find another way.

"Gengar, Shadow Ball!"

As the ball of shadows formed in Gengar's hands Corentin countered.

"Use Worry Seed!"

A single green seed shot out from the Pokemon, and Drake wasn't entirely sure what the move did.

However Gengar avoided it and lobbed the Shadow Ball right into Gogoat, knocking the Pokemon back a bit.

However he doubted that would be sufficient. He'd need another way...and Drake had an idea of what that other way would be.

"Gengar!"

He called to his Ghost Pokemon, who floated over to him in confusion. Drake then began whispering his plan to the once more grinning ghost.

"Can he do that?"

"I see no problem with it."

Mabel's nonchalant answer to Herbert's question came as he finished his whispered plan. Gengar nodded in agreement as Gengar flew towards Gogoat, using Double Team as he did so and began firing Sludge Bomb in a mass wave.

"Bulldoze!" Corentin had a fifth move up his sleeve as Gogoat stomped the ground again, this time causing beams of light and spraying dirt to shoot up everywhere.

This move destroyed all the Gengar dupes, and left no Gengar still flying towards Gogoat.

For the real Gengar was farther away, having finished forming a very large Shadow Ball before firing it at Gogoat.

"Surf!" The water wall came next, and with it the Shadow Ball was stopped after it pushed its way to the very edge of breaking through.

So much so that Gogoat and Corentin could probably see the Shadow Ball micro inches from the inner edge of Surf. In fact, given that Gogoat backed a few steps away from it, that was likely the case.

However it wasn't just a bigger Shadow Ball that was in play, for the Shadow Ball soon erupted into a barrage of Sludge Bombs.

Sludge Bombs that had been put inside the Shadow Ball while the Gengar Double Team distracted Gogoat.

Gogoat was promptly blasted with a massive wave of sludge right through Surf's last gasps and fell in defeat.

"I didn't know you could do that?"

Pendula's amazement was shared by Corentin, who returned Gogoat with praise for it.

"A Trojan technique. I hadn't thought you might try that. Impressive. But my ace is still to come."

Said ace was thrown out in a green and black ball, a Dusk Ball Drake believed it was called. Out of it came a Pokemon that resembled a tree, with a single red eye glowing as it glared at Gengar.

"This is Trevenant. You won't find it as easy as the last two."

He named it upfront, that was nice. So, was it going to Mega Evolve?

"Now, you see this Pokemon is different from Pokemon you've fought already, like Altaria and Venusaur. As of now, it is not known to possess a Mega Evolution. However, she doesn't need one."

Trevanant outstretched both of her arms as this declaration was made, as yellow particles began streaming into the Pokemon's body. Drake wasn't sure what they were, but he had a slight idea as he noticed the area slowly darken, as if a cloud was overhead.

However, the sky was completely clear, and the light continued to dim as more particles of light began streaming into Trevenant, as the color of Trevanant began changing from brown and green, to gold.

He noted Mabel in the corner of her eyes, and she wasn't doing the subtle 'this is what you should be figuring out' look that old masters were prone to doing. Was that a test to see if he'd figure it out on his own, or whatever was going on right now was not what he was supposed to be learning?

The light that seemed to be stolen from the mountain had seemingly merged with Trevenant, who was now fully glowing a glittering gold shinier than even the jewelry of the most vain of the upper class. Sparks coarsed across the Grass-type's form, and Drake did not need to be told that this was no mere cosmetic trick.

"Behold, a power equal to Mega Evolution, the Break Evolution!"

Drake eyed the golden Trevenant with a cautious eye.

This was certainly another first for him. Just how many ways were there for Pokemon to gain stronger forms?

Was this perhaps what Mabel wanted him to learn? Was he to have Dragonite learn to become Break Dragonite.

He had to admit, the idea of Dragonite being solid gold and glowing was appealing. Still, how much of that was just a paint job and how much was that an actual powerboost?

"Shadow Ball!"

Drake would test that with an attack, and Gengar provided that with a test worthy shadow ball.

It flew towards the glowing Trevenant, who wanted the approach carefully.

"Shadow Claw!"

Trevenant slashed the air in front of itself with glowing purple-gold claws, which created a disturbance in the air. Shadow Ball was caught in the turbulent air waves and disintegrated into harmless particles.

Gengar floated over to him and looked at the hovering ghost nervously.

"Yeah, it would seem it's pretty tough. However there is more to battling than just hitting things. Gengar, Hypnosis!"

Gengar grinned as he floated back towards the powered up Pokemon, his eyes glowing blue and releasing hypnotic waves towards the unblinking Trevenant.

Could a Trevenant blink? If it couldn't it would not be able to do the Gogoat thing and avoid the attack.

The Trevenant stared as the Hypnosis attacked landed, before almost puffing herself up and exhaling. Blue energy scattered on impact as if repulsed on contact, leaving an unharmed tree.

"Break Evolution does more than enhance a Pokemon's abilities. It is also a protective covering."

Corentin's declaration of Break Evolution's effect was followed by Gengar letting out an annoyed sigh at Hypnosis failing yet again.

Still, this wasn't over quite yet.

"Gengar, evasive maneuvers!"

Gengar perked up as he floated into the air and began weaving around, back and forth, in no distinguishable pattern. The only constant was the fact that it wasn't staying still.

Trevenant wasn't fast it seemed, and it would struggle to try and hit Gengar unless it got lucky.

Sitting Gengar out wouldn't work either: Gengar had hours of stamina for behaving like a crazy pinball on caffeine.

Trevenant would tire itself out trying to tag Gengar...

"Forest's Curse!"

Corentin's declared move was one that Drake had never heard of before, and he wasn't sure what to expect. He'd have called Gengar to be ready for anything, but the purple plant roots shooting out of the ground in all directions upwards was the anything to be ready for, and it was too late.

For they had wrapped themselves around Gengar and were now swinging his Ghost-type towards the golden form.

"Shadow Claw!"

Which promptly struck Gengar right in the face with the shadow claw, blowing Gengar back over the retreating vine field all the way to him, where Gengar lay in defeat.

Things were now tied it would seem.

He returned Gengar with praise for his job well done.

"Go, Dragonite!"

But now, it would be the true battle, and Dragonite was now up for the battle.

Dragonite let out a momentary chirp of confusion at the golden glowing tree before him, but quickly readied himself to defeat it.

"Ice Beam!"

"Counter with Will O' Wisp!"

Dragonite shot from his mouth the cold beams of ice as Trevenant formed a glowing blue ball of fire in front of her hands. Holding the ball out like a shield, the Will O' Wisp took the Ice Beam's full force and protected the golden Pokemon.

"Forest's Curse!"

"Protect!"

This time Trevenant was on the offensive, with the enchanted wood growth rising from the earth. Dragonite crossed his arms with a huff as a green bubble formed around him. The vines struck uselessly against it as Dragonite rose higher into the air.

The attack pursued farther than Drake would have guessed, but before Dragonite became too hard to make out they petered out, followed seconds later by Protect.

"I can barely out make Dragonite anymore," Pendula squinted her eyes.

"They should still be able to communicate vocally, though he will have to raise his voice," Y commented with the air of someone who knew what she was talking about.

"Dragon Pulse!"

Drake proved her point right when the ranged attack was fired from above with little delay.

"Shadow Claw, like before!"

Though like the Shadow Ball from Gengar, it was blocked from striking Trevenant by a turbulence wall of disrupted air created by sheer force of power.

"Ice Beam!"

"Will O' Wisp!"

The same thing again, though this time the Will O' Wisp ball remained in front of Trevenant's hands before being dispelled by a flick of the golden Trevenant.

"You may be out of range of Forest's Curse, but you don't have the power to overpower Break from that far away."

Corentin's declaration was accurate. From this distance Dragonite's ranged attacks lost power. At least Ice Beam and Dragon Pulse, if he recalled Thunderbolt was less affected by distance than those moves were.

"Thunderbolt!"

He'd see if that would work.

"Shadow Claw!"

Once again Shadow Claw was used to create a wall of air and force within the wake to block an attack, however this time around it wasn't fully effective.

At least thirty-percent of the electric attack surged through, striking at Trevenant's golden bark.

The attack have force to it, though it didn't seem like it did too much. Typing maybe?

Perhaps he could simply strike like that until it went down.

"Ingrain!"

Or not.

Trevenant's feet began shifting and churning into the soil, as a light green glow joined the golden one.

A death by a thousand cut would not work now. He'd need to hit more directly and more powerfully, and that meant getting in close.

But that close, Forest's Curse would be a problem.

"Vrooo!"

Dragonite's call rang out from above, and he could swear he almost made out Dragonite nodding his head.

Go for it?

Yeah.

"Dragonite, fly in and strafe with Thunderbolt. Get in close!"

"Is he mad!"

He ignored Herbert's comment as Dragonite began flying down, rapidly gaining speed with the aide of gravity. Constantly weaving, every turn was shared by as sparking Thunderbolt, firing right at Dragonite with solid accuracy.

Not pinpoint, but solid. Perhaps they could work on that sometime.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but it won't work. Forest's Curse!"

Vine after vine shot out of the earth, all seeking to bind Dragonite and render him for a knockout blow. Dragonite avoided them, either by a sharp turn, forcing Protect up, or blowing them away with sheer force from his wings.

Eventually Dragonite was right in front of Trevenant, who had a glowing Wood Hammer ready to smack Dragonite.

Dragonite then let out a cocky sound and suddenly rose, flying right over Trevenant.

The Forest's Curse vines following Dragonite didn't react fast enough, and many began smashing right into Trevenant like spears.

"Forest's Curse is attacking us!?"

Corentin's surprise was met by his own declaration.

"Yeah, and it's not the only one. Dragonite, Fire Punch, as many times as you can!"

Dragonite landed behind the stunned golden tree with two flaming fists, and gladly obliged with repeated fiery jabs right into the golden tree.

Two, four, six, eight.

"WROO!"

And ten with a dual slam of fiery fists into opposite sides of Trevenant's trunk.

Trevenant promptly began to shed the golden light like a rain of sparks, before woozily collapsing before Dragonite like a felled piece of lumber.

"Trevenant!"

And with that, he won another victory.

...

As the sun began to set, Drake found himself at the shore of a creek that babbled its way through a cave opening some distance away, thoughts not wandering to the possibility of Zubat swarms.

His thoughts were instead on a more positive subject as he finished scrubbing Dragonite's arm with soap.

"You did well Dragonite, as always."

Dragonite let out a coo in both agreement and enjoyment of the scrubbing as Drake moved to fill a bucket with creek water and with it wash the soap off of Dragonite's arm.

"Good thing you believed that you could get around that Trevenant. Honestly, I wouldn't have made a call for going in that close without your approval, and I don't know what I could have come up with instead. I admit, I was actually a bit nervous there for a while. I thought I'd break our promise there."

"Vroo."

Dragonite's call caught Drake a bit off guard. It wasn't a declaration that he 'better not', it was honestly sounding a lot more concerned than anything.

"Don't worry though, we'll never lose. That's why we're here after all."

"Vroo."

Dragonite still sounded worried, though after sounding off as such Dragonite pointed at the water. Drake jumped, ready to react to a random Gyarados attack, but instead saw something entirely different in the water.

A gold flash of something rolling through the water that wasn't a Pokemon, but some sort of litter.

Drake frowned as he reached into the water to remove it.

Littering. What a disgusting behavior. Didn't anyone know any better?

Though as he removed the object from the water, Drake's annoyance at litterbugs faded into confusion at what he had just pulled out of the water.

It was the top of a Pokeball, but one that was solid gold with a pair of ancient letters on the front, just above where the center mechanism of the ball would be. Those ancient letters reminded Drake of two letters in the modern alphabet.

G.S

* * *

Let me tell you, that last scene stumped me for a while. I wanted to continue set up for the later plot bits of Drake, but I wasn't sure how to do it. But I put myself down for a bit and decided that this would do the job I seek.

Next time, possibly more battles, definitely more looking into the mystery of Gladiators and broken G.S balls.


End file.
